Brazilian Senate panel recommends criminal charges for Bolsonaro right as he gets Trump endorsement

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday gave a hearty endorsement to embattled Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro right as a Brazilian Senate panel recommended slapping him with criminal charges.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Trump praised the far-right Bolsonaro and said that the two men had "become great friends over the past few years."

Trump went on to say that Bolsonaro "fights hard for, and loves, the people of Brazil -- just like I do for the people of the United States."

However, minutes after Trump endorsed Bolsonaro, the Associated Press reported that a Brazilian Senate panel investigating the government's disastrous response to the novel coronavirus pandemic recommended criminal charges against the Brazilian president.

The AP writes that 11-person committee, in a seven-to-four vote, "ended its six-month investigation of the government's handling of the pandemic and calls for prosecutors to put Bolsonaro on trial for charges ranging from charlatanism and inciting crime to misuse of public funds and crimes against humanity."

See Trump's endorsement of Bolsonaro below.