As thousands of supporters of former far-right Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro stormed three major government buildings in Brazil's capital on Sunday in protest of the presidential election results, the shocking, violent scene drew immediate comparisons to another post-election uprising -- the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.
Former Vice President Mike Pence said he "has no doubt" the Jan. 6 attack to stop the certification of the 2020 election played a role in inspiring the recent events in Brasilia.
"It is evident that what happens in the United States has repercussions around the world,” Pence, who was evacuated from the Senate floor during the insurrection, told CBS News in an interview posted on Wednesday. "I have no doubt that that tragic day in January of 2021, in this country, played some role in sowing the seeds of what’s taking place in Brazil."
Unlike the Jan. 6 insurrection, the riots in Brasilia occurred after the presidential inauguration on a day when the government buildings were closed. They were also much larger in scale, with protesters storming the Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential office, called the Planalto Palace.
Though in both cases, demonstrators were fueled by false claims about a stolen election, sown before polls even opened, Naureen Chowdhury Fink, executive director of the Soufan Center, a New York-based think tank, said.
"There's so many similarities in the narrative and the kind of disinformation being fomented in the lead-up to the election that it's hard to ignore those parallels," Fink told ABC News.
An 'echo' to Jan. 6 buildup
The Soufan Center, an organization focused on foreign policy issues, warned in September 2022 of the possibility of a Jan. 6 repeat in Brazil, as Bolsonaro "appears to be taking a page" from Trump’s playbook "by laying the groundwork for claims of a stolen election and a contestation of the results, should he lose."
"Brazil could soon be on the verge of facing the most significant test to its democracy in nearly four decades, as its institutions brace for a potential torrent of disinformation and political violence," the Soufan Center stated in a brief. "Ironically, the United States, historically known for exporting democracy, is now associated with developing the playbook for dictators and strongmen to use to sow doubt about democratic elections, while simultaneously offering a blueprint for authoritarian leaders to seize power by force."