Brazil’s first lady is under fire. Critics say her outspokenness oversteps her ceremonial role

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ’s government is grappling with unpopularity that has dented his credentials as the frontrunner for reelection next year. Critics and even some in his administration say his wife’s outspokenness hasn’t helped, accusing her of overstepping what has traditionally been a ceremonial role.

Rosângela da Silva, a 58-year-old sociologist also known as Janja, has also drawn criticism for insulting tech billionaire Elon Musk and advising the president on how to use the military during the Jan. 8, 2023 riots in the capital, Brasilia.

Still, the first lady says she will not change course. Meanwhile, Lula has staunchly defended her right to speak up and supporters says she is a strong, independent voice.

From a Beijing dinner to assailing Musk

In early May, an air of triumph filled a dinner in Beijing, where Lula celebrated a diplomatic victory: Businessmen travelling with him said they had secured billions of dollars in investments as the veteran leader renewed his international prestige standing alongside his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

But then da Silva raised her hand.

Although no one was expected to speak, da Silva addressed Xi, saying that Chinese social media company TikTok posed a challenge for leftists, claiming its algorithm favors right-wingers. China’s president reportedly answered.

The exchange was leaked to Brazilian media by the time dessert was served.

Still, she insists she will speak out whenever it serves the public interest.

A Datafolha poll released June 12 found that 36% of Brazilians think the first lady’s actions hurt the government, while 14% say they are helpful. It was the pollster’s first measure of da Silva’s approval. The same poll showed Lula with a 40% job disapproval rating, an 8 percentage point increase from October 2024.

‘Undue interference’

Under guidelines published by the solicitor-general’s office, the president’s spouse primarily fulfills “a symbolically representative role on behalf of the president in a social, cultural, ceremonial, political or diplomatic nature.”

For many of her critics, this does not grant her the authority to speak as a government representative.

Brazilian media have reported that government ministers, lawmakers and staunch leftist campaigners are privately raising concerns she could be a hindrance more than an asset. These worries have skyrocketed since the incident in China — even as Lula himself has praised his wife for speaking out.

“It looks like Brazil is governed by a couple,” said Beatriz Rey, a political science postdoctoral and research fellow at the University of Lisbon.

“When (the first lady) says there won’t be any protocols to silence her, she disrespects our democratic institutions for she has no elected office, no government position,” Rey said. “It is not about being a woman or a feminist. It is undue interference.”

Last week, Brazil’s presidency in a statement to The Associated Press said da Silva “acts as a citizen, combining her public visibility with the experience she has built throughout her professional career in support of relevant social issues and matters of public interest.”

‘Present and vocal’

Lula’s first wife, Maria de Lourdes, died in 1971. His second, Marisa Letícia, died in 2017. Lula, 79, and Janja said they met in 2017 and started seeing each other frequently during the leftist leader’s 580 days in jail in the city of Curitiba between 2018 and 2019. They married in 2022.

Many supporters of Lula’s Workers’ Party partly attribute the criticism against the first lady to misinformation and disinformation. In May, the party launched the “I am with Janja” social media campaign in her defense. But the week-long effort garnered less than 100,000 views and only a few hundred comments.

“Janja is an asset because she rejuvenates Lula, everyone in the government understands that, even her critics,” a Brazilian government staffer told the AP. “No one wants to alienate her. But many important people in Brasilia, friends and allies of Lula, do understand that by overstepping she brings some of her rejection to the president.”

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to speak to the media, often travels with the president and the first lady.

Adriana Negreiros, a journalist who profiled the first lady for a 2024 podcast titled “Janja,” said that allies of the president who criticize her do it with extreme caution.

”(Janja) dances, sings, speaks out, appears at official events and meetings with heads of state. She insists on being present and vocal,” Negreiros said. “There’s a lot of sexism and misogyny directed at her, no doubt. But not all criticism is sexist.”

‘She will say what she wants’

Da Silva said she doesn’t go to dinners “just to accompany” her husband.

“I have common sense. I consider myself an intelligent person. So I know very well what my limits are. I’m fully aware of that,” she told a podcast of daily Folha de S. Paulo.

Da Silva did, however, express remorse during the same podcast for the expletive she used against Musk in 2024, once a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump.

She also faced criticism over her harsh words when a supporter of Lula’s predecessor, former President Jair Bolsonaro, took his own life outside the Supreme Court building last November.

Many of Lula’s adversaries say they want the first lady to remain in the spotlight.

“The more she speaks, the more she holds a microphone, the more she helps the right wing,” said Nikolas Ferreira, one of Brazil’s most popular right-wing lawmakers.

Ferreira, a prominent social media figure, claims the role of regulating social media is a matter for Brazil’s Congress — not for the first lady to debate with foreign leaders like Xi.

Da Silva is also expected to play as a keen hostess at the BRICS summit in Rio on July 6-7, a role her husband is almost certain to support.

“She will be wherever she wants,” Lula told journalists in March, following criticism for sending the first lady as his representative to a nutrition summit in Paris that month.

“She will say what she wants and go wherever she wants.”

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