Trump says Brazil's election looked "rigged" but offers no evidence

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday, 26 October, that Brazil's presidential election held over the weekend looked "rigged", and he offered no evidence for the claim. The vote in South America's largest country was won by leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who defeated right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. Trump commented both on the outcome and on how the vote appeared to him.

Trump's remarks

According to Trump, the vote "looked terrible" and was "like another rigged election". Asked for his view, he said he had not taken sides. He added that elections have to be indisputable and that this one looked "very bad" to him.

Bolsonaro's response

Flávio Bolsonaro is the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. He initially refused to recognise Lula's victory, saying it was "impossible" to accept the result and that the election should have been annulled. He has since said he would "organise the opposition". In a video posted on social media on Monday, he said he had been banned from leaving Brazil and had been "served a notice to surrender my passports".

Background

Trump welcomed Flávio Bolsonaro to the White House earlier this year and later called him a "smart young man who loves his country, Brazil, very much". The Trump administration has hailed a recent wave of right-wing election victories across South America. "In South America, it was all leaning big left. It's all right now," Trump said last week. He added that he had endorsed many of those candidates and that every one he endorsed had won.