Brazil: Dilma Slams Bolsonaro's VP Mourao for Berating Single Mother Households

Senatorial candidate and former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff sounded off on military general Hamilton Mourao for calling single mother and grandmother households a "factory of maladjusted elements," in reference to youth criminality.

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"According to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) there are 11.6 million households in Brazil maintained by women and their children, without the presence of male partners," Rousseff tweeted. "My solidarity goes to the mothers and grandmothers who heroically raise their sons and daughters and granddaughters alone."

Rousseff went on to note that she "respects and admires" these women and that society should "denounce those who demonstrate prejudice or indifference to the true love of millions of women, mothers, and grandmothers."

During a speech at the Housing Union (Secovi) in Sao Paulo Monday, Mourao, who is the vice-presidential running mate of presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, said the concept of "family has always been the nucleus. You end up with the social problems we are experiencing once the concept of family is severed. It mostly attacks poor areas where fathers and grandfathers are absent. The end result is an absolute factory of maladjusted elements who are inclined to seek membership in narco-gangs that infect our country."

During the same address, Mourao referred to Africans as "dirt-bag scum," as he criticized foreign policy initiatives towards the continent during the presidencies of Rousseff and her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, both members of the Workers' Party. 

Mourao said the South American giant had adopted a "diplomacy called South-South. From that point on we were involved with all that "dirt-bag scum, please excuse the term... which resulted in nothing except debt incurred. We're in default because of this."