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May 21, 2024 - Rubin Report - Dave Rubin
52:13
Como o Brasil Perdeu a Liberdade de Expressão | Paulo Figueiredo Filho
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paulo figueiredo filho
46:47
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paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
So if you take a time machine and go back to 2019 and decide to tell me, look, Paul, this is how Brazil will be in 2024.
I would say no, you're crazy.
Five years from now, things won't change that fast.
However, they really did.
in 2024. I would say no, you're crazy. Five years from now, things won't change that
fast. However, they really did. And this change occurred gradually and constantly, over a
considerable period of time. And that was a problem.
And when Lula, then four years of freedom after the other being withdrawn.
unidentified
Today I am joined by a renowned journalist and creator of content censored by the Brazilian Supreme Court and a
specialist in Brazil and Latin America.
Paulo Filho, welcome to The Rubin Report.
Thank you for having me, Dave.
Glad to have you.
They told me that you are the Dave Rubin of Brazil.
That means we have enemies in common, I suppose.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
We do.
I'm not that handsome, but I do my best.
unidentified
We have similar beards, something like that.
The hair is getting similar.
Now I've shown it.
Yeah.
Well, it's a pleasure to have you here.
I've been following you for years and I remember when you entered my world.
Many of the problems you face in Brazil are similar to ours here.
In America.
For those who don't know you, can we do a background check?
You told me interesting things about your business past that I didn't know.
So let's get into today's topics.
Yes, of course.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
My training was in the business world.
I worked in the public sector for a few years as an employee of a congressman and then in the city of Rio.
I learned a lot.
Then I returned to the private sector, family business, and I was successful.
I did a lot in Brazil, which I am proud of.
One of them was, I was telling you, I was a partner in the Trump Organization in Brazil, you know?
I worked on the construction of the Trump Hotel in RJ, and it didn't work out at all.
unidentified
No, why?
People say, pre-presidential, Donald Trump.
Yes.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
It actually started in 2011 or 2012, so I was just a Trump fan as an entrepreneur.
And it's obvious, I met him personally several times and I was very impressed with him.
But then we built a hotel.
I was very impressed with him.
unidentified
And...
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
But then we built a hotel.
In 2016, when he ran for presidency, it was bad for business.
So it was bad in several ways.
Part of our luxury audience simply decided that they didn't want to have anything to do with the Trump Hotel.
Because we serve many artists and, you know, people who are aware.
Was it well-succeeded financially before that?
Yes, everything was fine.
But also the fact that we immediately became a target.
The day he was elected president, the Brazilian Public Ministry started an investigation against all Trump's organizations and projects in Brazil.
unidentified
Wow.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
They issued a prison sentence against me.
It was a nightmare.
I spent nine months on Interpol's red list.
For being Trump's partner, they closed the case against me.
They said I shouldn't have been charged.
That was wrong from a procedural point of view, but it was a very interesting experience.
So one day I decided that when I left the company, I would dedicate myself to journalism.
I went to journalism school when I was young.
And my question was that I always thought that the Brazilian coverage of US politics was completely biased.
Correspondents, just read the New York Times, watch CNN and report.
We know how inaccurate it is.
The Rubin Report program was already in the air at that time, and I started to tell the Brazilian people the alternative perspective of the news.
unidentified
In fact, there were no Brazilian cars doing this, leading you to watch my program, because online you can get an opposite point of view.
Exactly.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
I think this is the future, and you have shown this successfully for a long time.
On a certain day, they invited me to be a speaker on a renowned Brazilian television station.
It went well.
They offered me a role as a full-time commentator.
It went very well.
My videos started to become viral, especially because I like to debate.
And I could debate with the leftists live in the air.
And that's something I like to do.
And everything started to become viral.
And by the end of 2022, I was presenting the country's number one political program.
We used to have, most days, more viewers than Tucker Carlson.
So it's like millions of people are watching.
And this happened until January 9, 2023, without any interruption or pause.
So, one day after January 8 in Brazil, our January 6th, conservative commentators deny it.
unidentified
Why don't you tell us what happened that day, then?
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
So, Brazil is quite similar to the United States in several ways.
What surprises me is covering the ZOA policy for Brazil and the Brazilian policy for the ZOA.
Sometimes I do both tasks.
Sometimes it seems like I'm talking about the same thing.
It's just a different accent.
One of the most similar things we had was January 8th in Brazil, which was, well, we had an election with many votes.
the challenged, tried courts, courts did nothing.
The media began to say that any critic was just lying, spreading misinformation.
This was also a big lie.
The election was perfect and people were outraged with the result.
And on January 8, a group of people, of course, was completely wrong, decided, started a protest
in the capital of Brazil, and in the end it was really like a revolt that came out completely
unidentified
It started kind of calm, right?
I remember the beginning and then yes.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
So, a very interesting thing that Brazil has, and we held demonstrations last week in Rio.
Approximately 50, 100 thousand people there, very peaceful.
A month ago we had a million people on the streets of São Paulo.
People were upset.
But also because we had what?
They expected Bolsonaro to win?
Brazilian conservatives have a history of being very peaceful.
But that day was different.
That day was different.
Not only because the level of revolt was higher, people were upset, but also because we had what?
unidentified
Did they expect Bolsonaro to win?
I mean, was that so shocking?
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
It's interesting because we live in a strange world, in a certain way and in a certain way.
The same, again, very similar to the United States.
Bolsonaro carries out a rally.
You have hundreds of thousands of people there going crazy.
Lula Biden carries out the rally.
And there are like circles, no one there.
And that created the perception for people, including President Bolsonaro.
He said, I'll get 70% of the votes.
They'll try to steal the election, but I'll get 70% of the votes.
Now I'm more popular than I was the first time I ran.
unidentified
He heard.
That's what Trump says.
He says we need to overload them.
And how?
All right.
Yes.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
However, in Brazil, the problem with Brazil lies in some problems with its electoral system.
Zewa also has problems.
Some are unbelievable.
As in Brazil, I mention the advantages we have.
Everyone votes on the same day, with an identity document.
unidentified
Wow!
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
Look at you from the future!
Yes, exactly.
Let me brag about it.
But on the other hand, it is the dream of every Democrat in the sense that it is totally electronic, without a trace of paper, so it is impossible to recount.
Everything is centralized in a federal court that supervises the elections.
This was a real proposal from the Biden administration to Congress at the beginning of its term to have a centralized federal election.
In Brazil, the person responsible for this, Guarda Costas, is an individual who became famous due to his recent disputes with Elon Musk, in recent weeks.
Yes, we'll get there.
Yes.
Yes.
It's a problem because the number on a machine is a number.
You insert a number, candidate, and hope that your vote is counted correctly.
And if it wasn't, there is no possibility of auditing.
It's just a byte.
It's a number that is sent to a computer, which is centralized in a court, managed by an individual who has an aversion to Bolsonaro.
And you add this with several questions that people made in the Brazilian courts of justice.
And if you think the courts were not very considerate with the challenges Trump faced in 2020, yes.
On May 26, 2020, there was an event at the ZOA.
Sorry, it was in 2020 in the United States.
Brazil was much worse.
Sorry, it was in 2020 in the United States.
Brazil was much worse.
Because this guy had the authority to decide everything by himself.
Right?
As you mentioned, he is the guy who is fighting with Elon Musk.
But before that, Lula is in command.
It seems fair to me to say, is he a communist?
Is he a Marxist?
Is he an assumed one?
Or do people just call him a communist?
Yes, he is declared.
They call me a communist.
They think they offend me.
I am a proud communist.
I have a communist leader.
How not now?
A year and a little since then, how has this changed the country?
Well, it changed very badly in several ways.
So, obviously, the first thing that happens is that the budget is out of control, as well as the government's excessive spending.
Lula only increased the national deficit by R$ 1 trillion, which is equivalent to about R$ 200 billion in a year.
The public deficit is totally out of control.
The exchange rate with the Brazilian Real has increased significantly.
Therefore, the Brazilian Real is losing value.
Criminality has increased considerably.
However, it is in individual freedoms that we can most feel this negative consequence.
Because, to be fair, everything that is happening in Brazil did not start with Lula.
It started with Bolsonaro, it was made by the Supreme Court, by this guy, Alexandre de Moraes, who is a minister of the Supreme Court.
He was definitely the main guy in all of this.
And he is the guy who governs Brazil now.
Not that Lula has no power, but Moria's is much more powerful there.
And he also kind of looks like a bad guy.
We'll put images for people to see.
It's like he's taken out of a... Look, it's like he's come out of Star Wars.
If I had to choose a cast for a movie or entertainment, I'd think of this guy right away.
He looks like a James Bond villain.
Yes, he dresses like one, the full package.
Yes.
And Elon calls him Voldemort from Harry Potter.
Yes.
But he's the guy.
He's the guy who's ruling the country.
But while he had Bolsonaro as president, he had someone in his way, so he couldn't go crazy because he was always afraid, in a way, of Bolsonaro doing something against them.
and Bolsonaro was the president.
The president can do a lot, he can do something.
But since Lula took over the position, Lula and Moraes are completely aligned.
So, at this moment, the persecution, which originally involved only institutions that belong to the judiciary,
now is done in a collusion with the executive power.
Therefore, it is considerably more influential and powerful.
The scope of the persecution is much greater, to the point that Bolsonaro will not be able to run again.
Is he in the country now?
I know he fled right away.
Has he returned and is living freely?
So that's what happened.
living freely? So that's what happened. Bolsonaro, the day before his term ended, came to the
United States and spent three months here.
I think he was in Miami.
He was in Orlando, downtown Florida, but he was here in Miami several times.
Yes!
However, he made the decision to return to Brazil, because he thought it would be a good idea.
I think it was a mistake.
One of the reasons why he decided it was a good idea to go back to Brazil is because the Democrats bothered him.
They threatened to extradite him, even though he wasn't charged with a crime at that time.
The media also treated him terribly.
Basically, Florida is protecting this extreme right-wing maniac and the rest of it.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So he felt, under Biden's administration and the members of the Democratic Party in the Senate, in fact, Senator Bob Menendez was Bolsonaro's main opponent.
The individual is being accused of international corruption for assisting a foreign government that does not belong to the United States.
Government.
With gold bars.
With gold bars.
You kind of admire that.
unidentified
Yes.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
Why did he help Lula, the most corrupt guy on the planet?
I don't know.
It's speculation.
When you see your country change, people question the speed of change, especially in the American perspective, because we also follow this direction.
So when Lula took over, how quickly did you see scary changes in terms of individual rights and how they treat the media, and so on?
But how fast does this happen?
If you get a time machine and go back to 2019 and tell me, look, Paul, this is how Brazil will be in 2024.
I would say no, you're completely crazy.
Five years, things won't change that quickly.
But they did.
It happened gradually, taking a long time to happen.
unidentified
But without stopping.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
And that ended up becoming a big problem for them.
In Manila, then, there were four consecutive years in which freedom was being withdrawn, one year after the other.
So give me an example of something.
Let's talk about Elon's stuff, obviously.
So, in 2019, it was Bolsonaro's first year in office.
In 2019, you also started to have 2018, 2019.
In 2019, you also started to have, 2018, 2019, remember that very well because you covered it.
That's when social media started to be more aggressive in the fight against misinformation and everything.
you You started to see YouTube and Meta, like Facebook, changing their terms of service to be more aggressive.
All of this.
You started to see a lot of people being deplatformed.
This was a little after the Pragueru trial.
Yes, many think it started with COVID, but it happened before that too.
In fact, you can go back to an article in the New York Times about the Cambridge Analytica case.
It was at that moment that they began to blame social media for Trump's election on social media, which is quite interesting because they do that.
Analyze all the speeches made by the Democrats before 2018 for analysis.
Everyone would praise social media.
Obama won the election with the media.
That's how it's done.
That's how it's done.
Yes, it's a new wave.
New public squares, praises about it.
So you had Trump and they decided to find out why this guy won?
And they concluded that social media was to blame.
So, you had... Well, actually, first it was an article by The Guardian, but no one cared.
And a year later, the New York Times republished this story without any new information.
However, they began to discuss the idea that social media can be a threat to current democracy.
Okay, that's interesting.
I think that's interesting.
Weeks later, you see figures in the Democratic Party saying that social media, almost as if they had, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but it's not that much.
See that cover of the New York Times there?
Remember that?
Dave Rubin and Milton Friedman lead Alt-Right via YouTube algorithms.
Yes, quite impressive.
So, that's why I said, you know very well.
So, it's almost as if you had a meeting and decided, that's what we're going to say now.
In 2019, social networks updated their terms of service after the election of Bolsonaro.
The Supreme Court of Brazil investigated false news.
And this may seem quite strange if you're not paying attention, because usually a court does not start an investigation.
The Department of Justice, or anyone, the police, starts an investigation.
The court only judges based on prosecution and defense.
Right?
unidentified
Right.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
The Brazilian court decided to investigate, as well as in Zeuá, although they do not have the same power to do so.
But just like in the EUA, in the internal regiments of the court, there is an article that says, look, if a crime was committed in the dependencies of the court, we can open an investigation.
They decided to say, people say bad things about the court on the internet.
They are defaming the court.
Ah, smart!
The internet is everywhere, including within the court.
This gives us reasons to open an investigation.
It's like, wow!
Yes, that's right!
Wow!
This was inaugurated in 2019, you know?
This is the well-known fake news investigation program.
If you think that the investigation of Bob Mueller and others took a long time, this one has been going on since 2019, without anyone being accused.
And this is the investigation to which Elon Musk was now added.
But they started doing searches and arrests in the house of journalists.
So they began to censor certain types of content, some specific articles.
The first thing they censored was a magazine that published an article accusing a Supreme Court judge of corruption.
I can't let it leak.
unidentified
Of course not.
Yes.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
And then they started, they arrested some journalists and the most extremists.
So when you see people attacking Alex Jones, for example, you may not like Alex Jones.
You may think he's crazy, but you're next.
You just don't know.
That's how it started in Brazil.
They started with Oswaldo Estáquio, with whom I disagree about 99%.
Of course, I said it was wrong to pursue a journalist.
If you made a mistake, sue him in a common court.
But no, they arrested him.
It's like Alex Choms, in a way.
A little crazy, but very smart.
He's more right than wrong.
And they went after him.
And then, in a way, after the election, it is said about before, many were arrested after this happened.
Before that.
OK, you're still before.
I'm still before.
OK, OK.
Many were arrested after this happened.
unidentified
Before that, ok, you're still before, I'm still before, ok, ok.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
They started going to the elections.
Then things got complicated, completely.
Okay, okay.
The Supreme Electoral Court decided to grant itself the power to censor people.
It was only temporary to ensure the integrity of the election and protect democracy.
They said it would last only during the elections.
It was an exceptional measure and everything else.
As of December 2022, I participated live in news programs and new TV programs during the year 2022.
And I used to receive court orders from the station saying, look, you can't say that Lula is an undefined subject.
And I was like, what?
He is.
No, but you can't say that because it will confuse people, according to the court.
I was like, what? He is.
No, but you can't say that because it will confuse people, according to the court.
I was like, ok.
Well, you can't say he's a friend of Maduro and Ortega, the dictators of Venezuela and Nicaragua.
I was like, he is.
No, you can't say that.
That confuses.
And... One thing after another, I didn't see it in the air.
And I was like, I've never heard of it.
This is new.
unidentified
On TV.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
And we're talking about cable TV.
Like Fox News.
Right?
And then...
On December 30, 2022, I was... All this time I was doing this from Zewa, right?
So, from the studio of my house, not in Brazil, transmitting from my house in Florida.
In December 2022, I was skiing in Wisconsin.
I got a call.
It was like... It was a source that worked for a big technology company saying, I got a court order saying we have two hours to take you down.
Our social networks, I assume, all received the same order.
You have two hours and go away.
And we talk about about 1.5 million people on Twitter, 1.1 million on YouTube.
If you add the platforms, there are really more than 5 million people.
And this happened to another colleague of mine from the same train station.
And then Lula was elected.
He assumed the political position.
And what did you do after receiving that phone call?
I was still on TV.
So I decided, I called the broadcaster and said, look, put me on air.
It's like they put me on the show.
Despite not going, I'll tell people what happened.
I did a live broadcast on Instagram saying, look guys, I'm going to disappear.
I didn't die.
I went to the TV and they allowed me to speak.
However, I disappeared from social media completely in a row.
I opened others to openly challenge the judicial orders, which is totally and completely illegal.
Was it when you joined Rumble?
It was when I joined Rumble and Locals.
So I explored other places and the local robots were nice.
They gave me all the support.
They understood the situation in Brazil.
The locals even translated the platform into Portuguese.
And that was really cool.
So what could I do, right?
At the moment, my program, despite the blockade, is broadcast on about 8 different channels and is still number 1 on my schedule.
Even with censorship, it is impossible to stop.
But how worried are you in terms of how often you come back down there?
So basically you're not You're not a refugee.
In a way, you're an internal refugee.
What happened was that I found out later that that wasn't the only part of the request.
They also issued an order to freeze all my assets in Brazil, which was a considerable amount.
They also issued an order for a fine whenever I said something awake and considered false news, which often happened.
They also canceled my Brazilian passport, something almost unprecedented and totally unexpected.
It was until this moment.
And so I can't go back even if I want to.
unidentified
Wow!
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
I didn't sign up for this.
I moved to the United States of America.
In 2015, but I used to go to Brazil often.
Now I can't.
If my father God sets me free, die, I can't bury him.
I can't go back to the country.
I don't go to family parties.
I don't visit friends.
I don't see my parents, unless they come.
And to be clear, you were never convicted for anything.
I was not accused.
Or I was not notified of an investigation against me.
unidentified
And that's it.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
It's an endless investigation that never turned into a real case with accusations being made.
Absolutely nothing relevant happened.
Right.
The situation is the same for other people.
Let's relate this to what is happening with Elon in several countries.
Even when it comes to frozen bank accounts, each person immediately thinks of Canadian bankers, Canadian truckers, with their frozen accounts.
They don't freeze bank accounts, just trucks.
We won't see it yet.
Bank, dear, right.
Who has as a parallel job being a trucker?
I could talk about how this has intensified in relation to Elon and how it is spreading around the world.
What is very interesting is that, well, you spent, I don't know, a lot of time at Axie and saw how committed they are to freedom of expression, which is What is very strange is that, of course, we know from the Twitter files that they were not committed before Elon by Twitter, right?
Did you see the math?
It's an algorithm.
They don't even know how ... They don't understand what's going on.
But in a strange way, in Brazil, the individuals on Twitter, I'm talking about the same individuals who were close to the FBI, censoring the history of Hunter Biden's laptop.
It's as if these same guys They were shocked by what was happening in Brazil.
And because of the Twitter files that Michael Schellenberger published, because of that, we know that Twitter was sending e-mails from Twitter's office in Brazil to the Ewha, saying, these guys are crazy.
What they're doing here is something we've never seen before.
And the guys from that, I think that says a lot.
The guys from Twitter, from the Ewha, were like, wow, what's going on?
Xi Jinping calling you.
You didn't stop.
Going too far.
A little too far, even for me.
Exactly.
They were, because the judicial orders they were receiving were that way.
And Schellenberger shared these files obtained from the Twitter files of Brazil in his recent publication.
So all these communications, And somehow, I believe that this increased awareness about the situation and entered Elon Musk's radar.
And one day he decided to tweet to Alexandre saying, Why are you censoring the Brazilian people so much?
I believe he had a chance to investigate this.
And he started the investigation process.
Basically, he said he hadn't done that yet, that he would suspend all restrictions in Brazil because they were illegal.
It was strange to never have access to the judicial orders against me until last week, when I was in Congress at the Justice Commission.
I was talking to them, explaining the situation in Brazil.
And that's when they asked, have you seen the orders against you?
I was like, I didn't see.
They were like, do you want to see?
I was like, yes.
They gave me a folder with all the orders against me.
I was like, wow!
And they said, well, we request the files for the files.
We got them and we're going to make them public.
That was like an atomic bomb in Brazil, revealing everything that Morais was doing.
Just to give you an idea, the order against me has a whole page.
And a specific part of this order says that The social media platform cannot make information public.
So I don't know what's going on.
The only reason I know is because I received a source telling me, and of course I suspected, but I never saw the request.
So there was no way to appeal because you are never notified.
So if you are not notified, you cannot appeal.
Even if you could, it's the Supreme Court.
Who are you going to appeal to?
That was, that has been continuous.
When Elon Musk said he would suspend the restrictions, Demarais put me in the same situation, as a person of interest under investigation, in the same investigation as me.
Now, we are friends and we share this experience together.
Right?
unidentified
So, this is just in the last few weeks and Twitter in Brazil is now open or is it closed?
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
I know Argentina offered to bring employees and everything, but does it still exist there now?
We are curious to know what will happen.
Elon will suspend restrictions in Brazil.
But on the other hand, your team of lawyers in Brazil said that they are still going to make all the decisions in Brazil.
More than 100 resources were presented, but none of them investigated the matter in question.
They don't care.
It's the Supreme Court.
You appeal to them.
unidentified
In this case, you appeal to those who opened the investigation.
Yes.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
Psychotic.
I mean, it's the level of Republic of Bananas.
In this investigation, they are victims, because they say that this believer is against them.
It is an attack against their institution.
They are responsible for the investigation.
They are the promoters.
They are the judges.
Can you imagine?
There is nothing similar anywhere in the world.
So, although I believe that there is a global trend against freedom of expression, which is very important to you and to me, There's a trend on the left.
I believe that freedom of expression was a consensus until maybe five years ago.
And that consensus has disappeared.
People are really re-examining the conclusion we came to about 200 years ago.
Brazil, in this case, is really special.
Because it's like this, the way I put it is in a very singular way.
Everyone, the world has the same virus.
We just have countries with different immune systems.
And I like to joke that you're the comedian.
But I like to joke that Harvard University is like a laboratory of ideas.
Yes, Columbia may have taken over, but both.
The American universe is a laboratory of ideas.
So they have these crazy ideas.
Yes, we regret it.
Yes, you have credit.
You had good ideas.
Many good things, yes.
Yes.
But I mean, Brazil has two viruses.
Two of these.
There is the censorship virus and the jurisprudence virus, which is quite unique, as it is also a very present trend here.
It's very big in Israel.
I mean, just so people know, juristocracy is the transfer of power of democracy, which is the people's crates, right?
The people's government for the jurists, right?
Government, I mean, bureaucrats.
And non-elected bureaucrats, who govern and have enormous power.
unidentified
Yes.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
And they are not elected.
They have no control and balance.
In Israel, for example, they approved the judicial reform.
And the Supreme Court said, no, I don't think it's right, right?
So, what is this?
And this has never happened.
I mean, the founding fathers, if you If you read Federalist Paper 78, you'll see Hamilton saying that we'll never have a judiciary dictatorship.
They don't have the power of the stock market or the power of the sword.
If you read Montesquieu, he'll say, well, the judiciary is almost nothing.
But now you see that the judiciary power in Canada is also bad.
The Supreme Court in Canada.
So you see in different countries that the judicial system is by far, even in the United States, the most powerful branch of the government.
I shouldn't have to say this to Americans, because abortion was legalized in Zipwada by the Supreme Court in the 1970s.
But what I think the global elite, and again it's not a conspiracy theory, realizes is that, although they can bypass the democratic process, they don't need to go through the tedious process of, like, I'm George Soros.
I need to finance members of Congress.
I need to win.
And then there's the senator.
The president needs to have veto power.
It's as if I could circumvent all this if I supported, for example, elections of local promoters and judges.
And I can...
Well, I don't need to finance directly, but I can be a host and we can go to the same events and be part of the same community of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Right.
This becomes a two-edged sword because we talk about bringing DAs that destroy cities and leftists see destruction as evidence that the system is failing.
unidentified
They are getting two wins there and use it as evidence that they need more power for destruction.
Yes.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
In fact, in Brazil we usually joke that Florida is a state located further north of Brazil.
unidentified
You know. Yes, I moved from California. We are here in Florida. A great contrast for you, since you arrived before
becoming the citadel of freedom.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
Yes. In fact, in Brazil we usually joke that Florida is a state located further north of Brazil. Yes.
Why do we have so many Brazilians here now?
unidentified
Yes.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
And I love to say, I think we are very lucky with the current government.
I mean, I'm very grateful, especially during the pandemic.
It was very difficult for everyone, but with us it was even quiet.
unidentified
Yes.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
And not only that, he has done so many amazing and surprising things.
He worked to the point of being an example for Brazil.
Because many of the things he was doing here, Bolsonaro wanted to do in the pandemic in Brazil and called it genocide.
Ah, because he didn't implement the lockdowns as severely as we wanted.
He was saying that only the people who wanted could receive the vaccines.
They said, this killed many people.
No, no, no, I can say.
Everything he wanted to do, we did in Florida and it was successful.
Therefore, Florida was an example not only for America, but also for the world, in the way he dealt with the pandemic.
What is the state of Brazil at the moment?
I mean, do you have hope that your country will get out of this current communist preaching?
unidentified
The judiciary and Lula have power.
There are constant protests, right?
You mentioned that before.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
But do you see a way out of this situation?
We are seeing the first signs that the establishment is getting tired of Marais.
And the costs of... He became incredibly powerful and made a series of mistakes.
The system discards people.
You're just a dispensable part of the system, so it doesn't need you.
Exactly.
You're no longer necessary.
You simply assume the blame and leave.
And that's my hope now.
You simply assume the blame and leave.
And that's my hope now.
Not that we're going to fix Brazil, but I believe that the first thing we need,
and people don't realize it, is the thing you need to fight the most in a country to
protect, freedom of expression.
Because once you lose freedom of expression, you can't fight for any other right.
Right now, yes, I have a problem with our electoral system.
I barely talked about it.
Bad.
My goal is to restore freedom of expression.
Bolsonaro?
I don't care.
I like him, but not my focus.
I want freedom of expression.
Then I'll talk about Bolsonaro.
So my concern with the United States now is that this trend is also very present here.
And to the point where America has greatly influenced the Brazilian situation, the Biden administration, this is again, no, many, I said it was the third time I'm going to say it, it's not a conspiracy theory.
But there is an article in the Financial Times where they brag about it.
The Biden administration sent the CIA director The Secretary of Defense and Jake Sullivan on three different occasions in Brazil to pressure public authorities, military leaders and bureaucrats not to challenge democratic orders.
Therefore, it is essential to ensure that Lula was elected taking this into account.
Why did the Biden administration send its top officials to interfere in the Brazilian elections and ensure that freedom of expression was no longer in force?
2.
Lula, a Zewa enemy, was elected.
He was elected.
And that's what happened.
Lula is now the most pro-Hamas guy on the planet.
Yes, absolutely.
He made crazy statements related to Moshe.
Madness!
And he openly supports this.
He is comparing what is happening in Israel and what the Israelis are doing with the Holocaust.
Israel defending itself from the Holocaust.
It's a little sad to think about all the suffering caused.
It is also the most in favor of Venezuela, more in favor of Cuba, definitely in favor of Iran, to the point of having Iranian ships attacking Brazilian ports right now.
And he's also the most pro-China guy on the planet.
He's using the BRICS to mine the dollar as a global currency.
So why wouldn't the United States make an effort to put a guy like this in power?
And this intrigues me in a way, almost inexplicable.
Yes?
unidentified
Does this intrigue you or do you want to follow the conspiracy?
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
I mean, I feel like this doesn't confuse you.
It's as if these guys hated America and wanted the country to be destroyed.
And they definitely behave this way.
Ebola is definitely not helping America in any way.
At this moment, our hope is that it seems that the Zinei Congress, especially the House, with a minimum majority of Republicans, is starting to look and pay attention to Brazil.
And a large part of that is due to Elon Musk.
So, yes, that individual really... I can't exaggerate the impact that Elon Musk is causing on freedom of expression globally, but especially in Brazil.
So, what do you think?
What would change now?
What?
Lulu is not leaving.
He's not leaving, right?
He's not my biggest concern.
Let him go.
Courts don't dissolve.
So, what needs to happen?
I think Demarais should take responsibility.
Yes, responsibility is crucial in a democracy.
I think it's Nassim Taleb.
The book The Skin of the Game, he explained this very well.
When you don't have responsibility, you have a moral risk of just doing more.
You are allowing the criminal to do more and more.
Therefore, if you let someone go unpunished with the 900 dollars they steal in a store, you are allowing an even worse behavior.
that steal in a store is allowing an even worse behavior.
Yes, the same thing if you allow someone to run an election in the largest democracy on the planet
and nothing happens, and you have any proof you want with the signatures.
It's as if you had everything.
But the courts don't take legal action because that would traumatize a democracy.
By allowing this, you facilitate criminal behavior.
I'm worried about the elections in the EUA.
Right now.
So the first thing is that Morais needs to face some form of negative consequences for what he did.
If he does, Brazil will not solve all the problems, but will send a clear message to others, as if there were an intransponable line, and that line is freedom.
And that's one side of the question.
One thing that I think will help a lot, and let's say what God has planned, is that I think Donald Trump's election is crucial.
Just as the Biden administration interfered in a negative way in Brazil to bring the left to power, I believe that Trump can work in a more positive and beneficial way for the country.
And I'm not asking him to intervene in Brazil, but just the possibility of not counting on Biden's support would be extremely beneficial to us.
In addition, look, this election is of extreme importance to the world, because I believe, in a way, that we are deciding whether democracy is still present in the contemporary world.
I mean, as a foreigner, I have a hard time believing that the Americans will elect a president that 70% of the country considers mentally incapable.
I find this very difficult to believe.
So if Biden wins, I'm not saying, oh, I'm not finding an excuse.
I'm just saying it's hard.
I'm just saying it's hard.
If it wins, it means the establishment has power.
unidentified
Right.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
It's not like he's a good fake candidate.
He's terrible at first sight due to his age and ability.
Yes.
And he's weak.
And people see him as weak.
Literally, yes.
And if they elect him, it means...
We don't care anymore.
Right.
unidentified
It's as if you wanted people to give us a better actor to accompany us more.
It's as if they didn't make such a cool show.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
And the fact that they are the candidate shows how confident they are in electing anyone.
unidentified
That's why I'm not confident that Trump will win, because the research shows that more Hollywood celebrities are moving away, which doesn't seem like the right recipe.
It looks like a wrong recipe, the day after the election, everyone will ask themselves, what happened?
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
And I'm curious.
I don't think they can go unpunished with what they did in 2020.
Many rules change.
I think Republicans are, I hope, they are more, they know how to play better in the sense that it is as if not everyone will vote personally on the same day.
Just deal with it.
I don't see any evidence of change.
We've changed things at state level and we've tightened some things.
unidentified
Safe elections.
Florida will give an honest assessment.
I trust in the integrity of the electoral process tonight.
Some of these places, no.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
Yes, well, all of them.
If I'm not mistaken, the nine-state pendulums, I don't think we have any more.
The traditional nine-state pendulums, all of them changed their legislation to improve.
So they couldn't do the same thing they did.
We have the Pennsylvania decision in the Supreme Court.
It's important.
We also had some decisions in Arizona.
So I'm more optimistic than I was in 2020.
Without a pandemic, they can print cedars to send to people's homes without restrictions.
However, they have everything else, Dave.
They have Hollywood, as you know very well.
They have the academy, all the universities.
They have the financial market, all the Black Rocks and JP Morgans.
They definitely have the media.
The media is, I think, even crazier than they were in 2020.
No, it's completely crazy here now.
No, it's completely crazy here now. Yes, it's completely crazy, yes.
They have the bureaucracy.
I mean, they have the bureaucracy, the electoral officials and more.
I believe that this is what gives them confidence, to the point that Obama can have dinner with Biden and say, look, we need to fix your electoral campaign.
In a normal world, people would say that you're kind of dead.
Just die.
Yes, sit down, man.
unidentified
Wait.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
I hope this is the first of many conversations we'll have recorded together.
unidentified
Tell me something you don't know about Brazil or the Brazilian people, since we talk about politics and freedom of expression.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
I think people don't know that Brazil is very similar to Zewa.
Very similar.
We are much more culturally similar than all the other countries in Latin America together.
Brazilians come to Zewi and feel adapted.
Our women are more beautiful, I believe.
unidentified
Yes, our men too.
paulo figueiredo filho ▲ ● ▼
Whatever works, whatever works.
I believe that Brazil is following a positive trend in a certain sense.
I believe that Brazil is following a positive trend in a certain sense.
Brazil is a Catholic country since its foundation, and this religious influence has remained strong until the
1970s.
And then the Catholic Church began to decline all over the world.
It was a problem with Catholicism.
But it was even worse in Brazil, due to the predominant influence of Marxists in the theology of liberation.
And during the 70s, 80s and early 90s, Brazil became less and less religious.
And these values are very relevant to society, as you know very well, after spending so much time with Jordan Peterson,
isn't it?
These values are very important.
Since the mid-90s, Brazilian evangelical churches have spread rapidly.
And now Brazil is in the opposite trend of the United States in this specific trend.
Brazil is becoming a country with an increasing religious presence, just like the United States.
It's becoming less Christian.
I think, after all, that's what matters.
and becoming less Christian.
I think, after all, that's what matters.
You can't be a Jew.
It's a question of possessing the values of the Judeo-Christian culture,
which are fundamental for the formation of a solid religious and moral identity.
In short, it is crucial to have a solid foundation.
The required mentality is the same in both cases.
It is the same mentality, and you need it.
I like Breitbart's doctrine.
Politics is the adjutant of culture.
This is very true most of the time.
Culture is influenced by religion.
Religious values of people.
So that they have, share and produce a culture with these shared values.
Current problem in America, right?
Hollywood produces culture far from people's values.
Right.
Right.
So I think, in a way, what matters most, and you can verify this, are the numbers.
If you analyze the demography in the world, if you only consider people's age, sex, education, what matters most is whether they are religious or not.
If they are religious, they will vote 26 points less on the left.
That is, if the United States were as Christian as they were in the 90s, Biden would receive about 25% of the votes.
The left would never be able to, because the main policies of the Democrats would be the extremists of the 90s.
Exactly.
So I believe that my hope for Brazil is that the trend Yes, yes, yes.
Now we have a real right.
Brazil didn't have a right until probably 10 years ago.
We were only positioned between the left and the central left.
Yes, yes, yes, now we have a real right.
I am a friend of several members of the Brazilian Congress.
Some are amazing.
Better than most of the Congress.
Ours are not great.
We have good guys in Florida.
We have, we have.
Yes.
Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey, has helped us a lot.
So I have to praise him for that.
He is not a supporter of the magician, but he has been a true friend of human rights and freedom of expression.
I have to praise him for that.
You are a friend of human rights and freedom of expression.
Thank you, friend.
Pleasure.
unidentified
Yes.
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