Coronavirus Denier and Bolsonaro Ally Dies of COVID

A COVID denier and ally of Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro died Monday night of COVID. Olavo de Carvalho, 74, earned millions of fans and detractors in Brazil over his radical teachings, with his ideologies serving as a model to Bolsonaro before his election in 2018. His family announced his death on Twitter early Tuesday, saying he died in the U.S. “The family thanks all friends for the messages of solidarity and asks for prayers for the teacher’s soul,” they wrote. Carvalho derided the coronavirus repeatedly throughout the pandemic—including calling it the “moronavirus,” according to The Guardian. His daughter Heloisa de Carvalho Martin Arribas, from whom Carvalho is reportedly estranged, noted his passing on Twitter with a condemnation of his teachings. “May God forgive him for all the evil he has committed,” she wrote before adding in a follow-up tweet: “There’s no way I can feel great sadness for his death, but I’m not happy either.”