--- description: Find out why Jair Bolsonaro is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: Jair Bolsonaro: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f1d5009b6c147d4/698a124fb21a9c8d61504080/time-100-Jair-Bolsonaro.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # Jair Bolsonaro by Dan Stewart  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro greets Miami's Brazilian community after an event at Miami Dade College's Medical Campus in Miami, Florida, on March 9, 2020\. (Photo by Zak BENNETT / AFP) (Photo by ZAK BENNETT/AFP via Getty Images) Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro greets Miami's Brazilian community after an event at Miami Dade College's Medical Campus in Miami, Florida, on March 9, 2020\. (Photo by Zak BENNETT / AFP) (Photo by ZAK BENNETT/AFP via Getty Images)Zak Bennett—AFP/Getty Images The story of Brazil’s year can be told in numbers: [137,000 lives lost to the coronavirus](https://time.com/5840208/brazil-coronavirus/ "undefined"). The worst [recession in 40 years](https://time.com/5837434/brazil-coronavirus-covid-19-latin-america/ "undefined"). At least five ministers sacked or [resigned from the Cabinet](https://time.com/5840854/sergio-moro-brazil-interview/ "undefined"). More than 29,000 [fires in the Amazon rain forest in August alone](https://time.com/5661162/why-the-amazon-is-on-fire/ "undefined"). One President whose stubborn skepticism about the pandemic and indifference to environmental despoliation has driven all these figures upward. Yet the number that really matters is 37—the percentage of Brazilian society that approved of [Jair Bolsonaro](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2019/5567770/jair-bolsonaro/ "undefined") in a late-August poll, the highest rating since he took office early last year. Despite [a storm of corruption allegations](https://time.com/5829773/jair-bolsonaro-coronavirus-corruption/ "undefined"), and [one of the highest COVID-19 death tolls](https://time.com/5800901/coronavirus-map/ "undefined") in the world, the right-wing firebrand remains popular with a large section of Brazilians. Bolsonaro’s approval rating is partly due to the monthly emergency-relief payments made to the country’s poorest during the pandemic. But it also reflects the fervent, almost cultlike following he commands. To his base, he can simply do no wrong. It’s the rest of Brazil, and the world, that is left to count the cost. _Stewart is TIME’s international editor_ Jair Bolsonaro Is on the 2020 TIME 100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888329/jair-bolsonaro-brazil/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888329/jair-bolsonaro-brazil/"},"headline":"Jair Bolsonaro","datePublished":"2020-09-22T22:26:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:59.061Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888329/jair-bolsonaro-brazil/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Leaders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f1d5009b6c147d4/698a124fb21a9c8d61504080/time-100-Jair-Bolsonaro.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f1d5009b6c147d4/698a124fb21a9c8d61504080/time-100-Jair-Bolsonaro.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888329/jair-bolsonaro-brazil/","name":"Jair Bolsonaro"}}]}] ```