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Bolsonaro’s new pro-business position solidified in a widely criticized address to the nation on Tuesday in which he minimized the likely impact of the “little flu” in Brazil, and urged mayors and state governors to roll back lockdown measures that have brought Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to near standstills.

Many believed the speech backfired.

“In this serious moment, the country needs a leadership that is serious, responsible and committed to the life and health of its population,” Senate leader Davi Alcolumbre said in a subsequent statement.

“We consider the position expressed by the President to be grave … Now more than ever, the nation expects from the executive leader transparency, seriousness and responsibility.” Even former political allies have reacted with horror to his pro-business stance.

Speaking on Wednesday in Brasilia, Bolsonaro again criticized governors for putting in place lockdown measures.

“What some governors and some mayors in Brazil are doing is a crime. They are destroying Brazil,” Bolsonaro said.

“What do we need to do? Put these people to work, preserve the elderly, preserve those who have health problems, nothing more than that,” he said.

Coronavirus deaths in Brazil on Tuesday rose to 46 from 34, and the number of cases rose to 2,201 from 1,891, according to government figures.

But despite the rising toll, Bolsonaro said most people, including himself, had nothing to fear from COVID-19.

“In my particular case, with my history as an athlete, if I were infected with the virus, I would have no reason to worry, I would feel nothing, or it would be at most just a little flu,” he said. (Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter, editing by Bernadette Baum and Steve Orlofsky)