Bolsonaro Calls Nazis Leftists After Holocaust Museum Visit

Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro said “there is no doubt” that Nazism was a leftist movement, just after visiting Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum.

Bolsonaro’s remarks directly contradicted information on the museum’s website, saying Germany’s Nazi movement rose out of right-wing radical groups responding to the rise of communism.

In Tuesday’s broadcast comments, the Brazilian president echoed previous remarks by his country’s foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo, also claiming the Nazis were leftists.

Asked by reporters if he agreed with Araujo, Bolsonaro said, “There is no doubt, right?”

He went on to say that the Nazi party’s name was the National Socialist Party of Germany, which includes the word “socialist.” The official name was the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

Despite their name, the Nazis followed a fascist and anti-Semitic — rather than a socialist — ideology.