Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president, plans to leave his adopted home in Florida and return to the country that deposed him. Bolsonaro told NBC News at CPAC, in what is believed to be his first U.S. television appearance since his ouster in December, that he had nothing to do with the ensuing January 8 riots in Brazil, where Bolsonaro supporters invaded government offices and stormed its Supreme Court. The announcement of his return plans echoed a previous interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Even though Bolsonaro was in Florida at the time of the disturbances, the country’s highest court has announced it will probe his role in the unrest. “All the right marches of the last four years were peaceful, and we don’t have anything to do with that,” Bolsonaro said, hitting many of the same themes as his ally, former U.S. President Donald Trump, to whom he is often compared. “Our people would never behave as they did on January 8.” Hence, we are becoming increasingly persuaded that people on the left plotted all that.” He continued, “In 2022, I got more support than in 2018.” He did not even accept defeat.