Trump questions legitimacy of Brazil’s election, calls it ‘rigged’

• Lula defeated right-wing senator Flávio Bolsonaro to secure a fourth, non-consecutive term
• The remarks echo Trump’s repeated claims of election fraud, including his unsuccessful challenge to the 2020 US presidential election.

US President Donald Trump has questioned Monday the legitimacy of Brazil’s presidential election, describing the result as appearing to be “another rigged election” after incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated right-wing senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Oct. 26, Trump said he had not taken sides in the election but questioned the way the results were tabulated, without presenting evidence of electoral fraud.

“It looked terrible to me. It looked like another rigged election, frankly,” Trump said, adding that elections should be “indisputable.”

Trump also questioned an extension to voting, describing it as “very strange,” and said the election had a “very bad look.”

Lula secured more than 64 million votes against nearly 60 million for Bolsonaro, winning 51.79% of the vote to his opponent’s 48.21%, according to reported results. The victory marked a significant comeback for Lula, who had trailed Bolsonaro in the first round earlier in October. 

The extension to voting followed requests from both candidates amid transportation difficulties in major cities and heavy rainfall in parts of southern Brazil. The circumstances prompted questions from Bolsonaro’s campaign, but Trump offered no evidence that the extension or the vote-counting process had affected the outcome. 

Bolsonaro has refused to concede defeat and announced plans to seek annulment of the results. Brazilian electoral authorities, however, have recognized Lula’s victory, while leaders across the political spectrum have acknowledged the outcome.

A familiar pattern of election claims

Trump’s remarks echo his longstanding tendency to question election results when outcomes go against his political preferences. Most notably, he repeatedly claimed that the 2020 US presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden, had been stolen through widespread fraud.

Those allegations were not substantiated. Courts rejected challenges brought by Trump and his allies, while US election security officials found no evidence of widespread fraud or manipulation sufficient to change the outcome. A joint assessment by the US Justice and Homeland Security departments also found no evidence that a foreign government had manipulated the 2020 election results. 

Trump’s latest comments come against the backdrop of his political alliance with Jair Bolsonaro, who was president of Brazil from 2019 to 2022 and frequently questioned the country’s electronic voting system before losing to Lula in 2022. 

Read more: Lula defeats Bolsonaro’s son to secure fourth term as Brazil’s president