BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT JAIR Bolsonaro appeared to get a celebrity endorsement Thursday for his re-election bid from football superstar Neymar, who posted a video on TikTok of himself dancing to a pro-Bolsonaro campaign song.
Grinning, the Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil striker, arguably Brazil’s most famous celebrity, flashed the number 22 — Bolsonaro’s candidate number — with his fingers as he rocked out to the electronic dance jingle, three days from the far-right incumbent’s election showdown against leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
“Vote, vote, and press ‘confirm’ for 22, that’s Bolsonaro,” goes the song, a reference to Brazil’s electronic voting machines — which the president alleges, without evidence, are plagued by fraud.
Bolsonaro wasted no time retweeting the Neymar seal of approval.
🚨AGORA: Neymar Jr. declara voto no candidato Jair Bolsonaro e faz dança com o single da campanha. #Eleições2022 pic.twitter.com/tqMFSjRIc4
— CHOQUEI (@choquei) September 29, 2022
Neymar, 30, had previously stayed out of the fray for Sunday’s polarizing election, in which Lula leads in opinion polls.
But he sent a video message to Bolsonaro Wednesday after the president visited the footballer’s charitable children’s foundation.
“Hello, President Bolsonaro… I wanted to thank you for your illustrious visit,” he said on Instagram after Bolsonaro visited the Neymar Jr. Institute, a non-profit organization the football star founded in 2014.
It runs educational, cultural and sports programs for 3,000 underprivileged children.
Bolsonaro backers have adopted the yellow-and-green jersey of Brazil’s national team as a symbol of support for the president, along with the Brazilian flag.
Both men are vocal about their Christianity.
