Valdemar Costa Neto defends himself from criticism for praising Lula

After suffering criticism for a statement in which he commented on the prestige of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and the charisma of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the PL, defended himself on his profile on X (formerly Twitter).

“They are attacking me, using a speech I made about Lula that is out of context. To those, I leave a message: whoever does not have loyalty and fidelity, has a short life in politics. I am loyal to Bolsonaro and faithful to my principles. Whoever You know, you know that my word doesn’t bend”, he stated.

In December 2023, during an interview with the newspaper The diary, from the region of Mogi das Cruzes (SP), Valdemar Costa Neto stated that Lula is different from Bolsonaro because “he has a lot of prestige”. The video went viral on Friday (12), and was even shared by PT members.

“There is no comparison with Bolsonaro. Completely different. Firstly, Lula has a lot of prestige. He doesn’t have the charisma that Bolsonaro has. Lula has prestige, popularity. He is known by all Brazilians. Bolsonaro, no. Bolsonaro had a single mandate. Lula, when he was elected president, was elected in his fourth attempt for the Presidency of the Republic, and he had already had an attempt for government of the state as well”, he stated during the interview with the São Paulo newspaper.

Faced with the controversy generated by the release of the video, Costa Neto gave an interview to Folha de S.Paulo on Friday, when he claimed that his statements were “taken out of context”.

The PL president claimed to have told the truth about Lula, commenting that he had been a good president, justifying that, if he failed to tell the truth, he would lose credibility, which is what he has left in politics.

“But I was making a comparison: Lula has prestige; Bolsonaro has something that no one else has on the planet: charisma,” she told Sheet.