Four years after he stormed in to shake up a politics-disgusted Brazil, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is finding it increasingly difficult to portray himself as an outsider, but he remains as caustic and divisive as ever.

The 67-year-old incumbent, who is seeking re-election to a new four-year term on Sunday, is trailing his left-wing nemesis, ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), in the polls.

A former army captain-turned-congressman, Bolsonaro is known for his brash, divisive style, which earned him the nickname “Tropical Trump.” .

When Bolsonaro survived a knife attack during a campaign rally in September — perpetrated by an assailant later declared mentally unfit to stand trial — it only fueled supporters’ belief in their “Messiah” or “Messiah” — Bolsonaro’s middle name.

But the president’s aura of invincibility has faded as he enters the twilight of his tenure, when the economy is sputtering and his popularity is waning.

Bolsonaro won the 2018 presidency with broad support from business community, voters fed up with corruption, and the powerful Bibles, Bullets and Beef coalition – evangelical Christians, security hardliners and agribusiness.

Supporters love his no-holds-barred style, anti-establishment message and middle-class touch on social media, where his movement thrives.

But he infuriates critics with his divisive sharpness and contempt for political correctness, often drawing accusations of racism, sexism and homophobia.

And his mainstream and business support has been severely eroded as his government has stumbled through various crises.

Bolsonaro persistently downplayed Covid-19, defying expert advice on how to combat it, and derided face masks, social distancing and vaccines, warning the latter could “turn you into an alligator” – even as the death toll in Brazil became one of the highest in the world, with more than 685,000 second only to the United States.

Bolsonaro is facing an international outcry over the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, which has increased under his watch, fueled by the encroachment of cattle ranches into the jungle.

He also faces numerous impeachment requests and a number of corruption scandals involving his close circle.

He is banking on big new welfare benefits introduced in July to bolster his support for low-income voters – but faces accusations of economic populism and fueling already-rising inflation.

Born in 1955 to a Catholic family of Italian descent, Bolsonaro served as an army paratrooper before beginning his political career as a Rio de Janeiro city councilor in 1988.

Two years later, he was elected to the lower house of Congress, where he served until his election as President.

With his statements, he sparked one explosive controversy after another.

In 2011, he told Playboy magazine he would rather have his sons killed in an accident than come out as gay.

In 2014 he made headlines when he said a left-wing MP was “not worth raping” because she was “too ugly”.

In August 2020, he threatened a journalist who was questioning him about allegations that his wife Michelle had received money from a political agent who was the target of a corruption investigation.

“I want so badly to punch you in the mouth,” Bolsonaro told the reporter for leading newspaper O Globo.

The president is openly nostalgic for Brazil’s military dictatorship of 1964-1985, whose “fault,” he said in 2016, “was torturing, not killing, left-wing dissidents.”

Bolsonaro has developed a close relationship with the army’s top officials, picking General Walter Souza Braga Netto, his former defense minister and chief of staff, as his running mate.

Many Brazilians fear that if Bolsonaro loses, he could try to fight the election result, following in the footsteps of his political role model, former US President Donald Trump.

He has indicated he will not leave the presidency without a fight, saying his re-election bid could only have three outcomes: “prison, death or victory.”

Bolsonaro has four sons – three of them politicians – and, in a moment of “weakness,” as he called it, a daughter.