Mediatization, post-truth, and knowledge production about Covid-19 261 promotion of hydroxychloroquine as the fulfillment of the responsibility that the position imposes on him with the health of the social body: “While some continue to seek chaos, we con- tinue to seek solutions to protect our nation10.” The credentials that support Jair Bolsonaro as worthy of popular trust have been strategically articulated as rhetori- cal evidence, producing a belief in the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine as an extension of the belief that the people have in the head of the nation. Thus, the Brazilian president insists that it is the duty of the position he holds to find a quick solution to the COVID-19 pandemic and, even without reliable scientific evidence, he publicly defends that the drugs in question can save many lives in prophylactic use, to prevent infection, and therapeutic, for the treatment of infection in mild or severe cases of disease manifestations. What the credible arguments activated by Bolsonaro suggest is that the use of the drug in the new coronavirus treatment would bring peace, security, and health to the Brazilian population and, therefore, would help to overcome the economic and health crisis posed by the pandemic. The set of elements, speeches, and actions mobilized by Bolsonaro as rhetorical evidence of his political crusade for the use of hydroxychloroquine also involves the moral and ideological legitimation of the proposed content to strengthen public ad- herence. In addition to credible arguments, Bolsonaro seeks to articulate the belief in the use of the drug with the principles and values consonant with the (neo)conservative groups supporting him. According to the legitimating arguments based on an ex- treme right-wing political stance, it is the forces of the left – represented worldwide by the World Health Organization (WHO) and nationally embodied in the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) – that would be against the use of the medication with the aim of creating chaos and social disorder. Thus, on May 21, he denounces that “yesterday, PT senators questioned the protocol of Chloroquine at the Federal Accounting Court, that is, they try to prevent its use in the pub- lic health system. [...] PT does not want the poorest, who seek 10 Available at https://bit.ly/3mlTzXs. Accessed on September 10, 2020.
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