The “hatred cabinet” in focus

Bolsonaro’s government from a psychosocial perspective

Abstract

The “hatred cabinet” is an informal organization of advisors and supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, elected in 2018, whose main activity is to attack government opponents by spreading fake news on social media. Adopting a psychosocial perspective, we analyze devices used by the “hatred cabinet” to build the image of the government chosen enemies: those considered communists, defenders of human rights, among others. We argue that attacks on the Bolsonaro government’s political opponents have a dual purpose: to enhance the President’s image while disqualifying his opponents’ image. A narrative review of publications from the President’s supporters and mainstream media outlets indicates that the disqualification of opponents, based on false narratives, has been based on the propagation of fear and hatred against opponents, resulting in violent actions against them. Finally, we point out psychosocial tasks that can help overcome polarization and decode the power relations related to these phenomena.