The Jair Bolsonaro administration’s disapproval rating continues to grow and, for the first time since the president took office in Brazil, surpassed his approval rating.
A poll conducted by Atlas Político found that 36.2 percent of respondents think his administration is bad or terrible, while 28.6 percent believe it is good or great. A 31.3-percent share of respondents said the government is “average.”
The number of people who approve the government drpped five percentage points since the last poll, conducted in April.
The pollster interviewed 2,000 people between May 19 and 21. The margin of error is plus or minus two percentage points.
Budget cuts and probes
The same poll revealed other numbers that may help explain why Jair Bolsonaro’s popularity is falling.
One example is the impact of the protests against the public education budget cuts announced by the Bolsonaro administration, as 51.5 percent of respondents told Atlas Brasil they are against the budget freeze, while 45 percent said they support it.
The probe into the finances of senator Flavio Bolsonaro, a son of the president, hit the headlines again recently and could help explain the poll numbers as well. More than half of respondents — 54.3 percent — said they think Flavio should be arrested, while 86.3 percent said they heard about the case.
