MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Three polls show Bolsonaro gaining support and favorite for the 2022 re-election

The latest poll by news magazine Veja, puts Bolsonaro comfortably ahead in the first round of the presidential election, with 27.5 to 30.7% of the vote

Three polls released this week show gains for President Jair Bolsonaro, putting him as favorite to win re-election in 2022 despite his controversial handling of Brazil's raging coronavirus crisis.

The far-right leader, who is himself currently infected with the virus, has downplayed the pandemic even as it has exploded in Brazil, the country with the most infections and deaths from COVID-19 anywhere in the world except the United States.

But this week's polls suggest the man dubbed the “Tropical Trump” is weathering the crisis relatively well.

The latest poll, published this Friday by news magazine Veja, puts the far-right leader comfortably ahead in the first round of the presidential election, with 27.5 to 30.7% of the vote, depending on his opponents.

Bolsonaro would easily win the second round against any opponent, even his popular ex-justice minister turned nemesis, Sergio Moro, or leftist former president Lula da Silva, the poll found.

A poll published Thursday by news site Poder360 meanwhile put Bolsonaro's approval rating at 43%, up from 40% two weeks ago with disapproval falling one point to 46%.

Poder360 said the president's approval rating was 52% among beneficiaries of the government's monthly coronavirus emergency relief checks of 600 reals (US$115), which aim to help poor Brazilians suffering the economic impact of coronavirus stay-at-home measures.

Bolsonaro is a fierce critic of those measures, arguing the economic pain is worse than the virus itself. Brazil has registered nearly 2.3 million cases of the new coronavirus and more than 84,000 deaths, and the numbers continue rising rapidly.

Another poll, published on Monday by brokerage firm XP Investimentos, put Bolsonaro's approval rating at 30%, up from 25% in May. It put his disapproval rating at 45%, down from 50% in May.