Lula's approval dips in Brazil following controversial Israel-Gaza remarks
"The remarks were so poorly received that the president did not obtain majority support even within his own political base"
The approval rating of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has seen a decline following his recent comments equating Israel's actions in Gaza to the Nazi genocide during World War Two, according to a new Genial/Quaest poll released on Wednesday.
The poll revealed that Lula's approval rating for his governance dropped to 51 percent in February, down from 54 percent in December, marking its lowest level since April 2023.
Conversely, disapproval of his performance rose to 46 percent, up from 43 percent in the previous survey.
Notably, Lula's remarks about the conflict in Gaza had a significant impact on evangelical Christian voters, a demographic that has traditionally supported former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. Lula's comments were met with particular criticism among evangelicals, with his approval among this group dropping to 35 percent from 41 percent, while disapproval surged to 62 percent from 56 percent.
In his statement, Lula condemned Israel's military actions in Gaza as a "genocide" against Palestinians, drawing a parallel to the atrocities committed by Hitler against the Jews. Israel swiftly condemned the remarks as a serious anti-Semitic attack and demanded an apology from Lula. However, Brazilian sources indicated that such an apology was unlikely to be forthcoming.
Felipe Nunes, a pollster at Quaest, highlighted the negative reception of Lula's remarks, noting that approximately 60 percent of Brazilians believed he had exaggerated in his comparison. Among evangelical voters, this sentiment was even more pronounced, with 69 percent expressing disapproval of Lula's comments.
"The reaction to Lula's remarks about Gaza seems to give a good clue to explain it," Nunes remarked. "The remarks were so poorly received that the president did not obtain majority support even within his own political base."
The Genial/Quaest poll surveyed 2,000 eligible voters between February 25 and 27, with a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.