PT pastor says that “30% of evangelicals are fascists”

The PT pastor of the Comunidade de Jesus in Campina Grande (PB), José Barbosa Jr., said that “30% of evangelicals (in Brazil) are fascists” and proposed the creation of a “huge bubble of left-wing evangelicals” to attract the remaining share of this audience for PT.

The speech was made this Friday (8), during the pastor’s participation in a panel on Rights Policies to Change Brazil at the PT Electoral Conference for 2024, which took place in Brasília.

At the same event, President Lula (PT) argued that the party needs to get closer to evangelicals and do the “groundwork” to be able to elect more candidates in the next election.

“We can also win this fight of ideology among evangelicals. Don’t think that everything is lost. There are 30% of evangelicals who are fascists. We don’t even talk to these people. Now, there are 40%, 50% that are up for grabs. So let’s not give up […] The core of PT evangelicals is there, active. We don’t want to burst the bubble. We want to create a huge bubble of left-wing evangelicals. You can get there. And towards victory in 2024”, stated the pastor.

When commenting on the criticism he receives for being a left-wing evangelical pastor, José Barbosa said that criticism should be directed at pastors who identify with the right. According to Barbosa, these pastors defend “a system based on the accumulation of wealth” that would be against the teachings of Christianity.

When quoting an excerpt from the biblical text in which Jesus Christ teaches about helping the poorest, José Barbosa evoked the PT’s monopoly on charity.

“There is the following criterion: I was hungry, you gave me food. I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. I was naked, you clothed me. I was a stranger, you welcomed me. I was sick, you visited me. I I was in prison, you preached about me. So, a public policy, based on the Gospel, whoever is hungry, feeds. Who does this, the PT or (former president) Jair Bolsonaro? The PT”, he stated.