Pandemic coordination, economy, denialism, and emotions in the Trump and Bolsonaro governments

Abstract

This article undertakes a comparative analysis of the editorials from the Washington Post and O Estado de São Paulo newspapers, examining the denialist coordination of the Covid-19 pandemic under the governments of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, as well as its intersections with the economy and emotions. Contrary to the perceived failure attributed to the pandemic coordination, our thesis is that it represented the realization of a conservative power project, based on the systematic denial of science and democratic principles. The denialism is understood as a historical and political category aimed at constructing ignorance and distorting the truth, serving as a foundation for far-right governments. Through this lens, the layers of this political strategy unfold, mapping its ramifications and impacts beyond the health crisis, in the fields of emotion and the economy, highlighting the multifaceted influence of denialism on the contemporary social context.