The president of the United States, Donald Trump, insisted this Monday that he did not take a position in favor of any of the candidates in the second round of the Brazilian presidential elections held this Sunday. In these elections, the leftist candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ultimately defeated the far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, although Trump claims there has been "fraud" and has called the two-hour extension in voting hours "strange."
"I did not take sides, but it seems like another electoral fraud, frankly. I did not take sides, but it has left a terrible impression on the world," the president stated when questioned by the press.
Although Trump did not publicly endorse Flávio Bolsonaro during the campaign, he did receive him at the White House last May and had already expressed his support for his father in 2021, when Jair Bolsonaro managed to take the presidency of Brazil.
"These are other elections. Elections must be indisputable and it seems to me that it looks very bad," Trump added, describing the process as "corrupt."
In any case, Trump emphasized that he "likes" Lula. "I get along very well with him. I just think it looks very bad... the elections, the way the tabulation was done. The extension that was given was very strange," he noted, referring to the decision of the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil to delay the closing of polling stations from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM due to incidents in public transportation in several cities.