Flávio Bolsonaro claims election fraud in letter from US, critics dismiss it

Flávio Bolsonaro published a letter from the United States on Wednesday, October 28, after traveling to Miami. In the document, he claimed to be the victim of electoral fraud and called himself the true elected president of Brazil. He also thanked Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei.

The letter was first released by his ally Paulo Figueiredo, who lives in the United States. In an initial version, Flávio declared himself the true elected president of Brazil and addressed the Brazilian people and the international community. He later removed that statement on social media and presented himself as the voice and leadership of the nation.

“First, that this cannot and should not be taken seriously. I think the first quotation marks are this: it is a bad-taste joke by a criminal who fled to avoid facing Brazilian justice.”

Flávio alleged that the elections were frauded by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva because of an injunction by Cristiano Zanin that extended voting until 7 p.m. He said 34,000 people voted during the extended hours and that Lula’s margin over him was 4.4 million votes. The letter also stated that Lula added more than 10 million votes between the first and second rounds.

The Superior Electoral Court declared Lula re-elected after he won 64.2 million votes in the second round, nearly 4.5 million more than Flávio. The result was recognized by the Brazilian judiciary, international organizations, and Flávio’s own party, the PL.

Bahia state deputy-elect Kleber Rosa of PSOL criticized the letter, calling it a bad-taste joke by a criminal who fled to avoid facing Brazilian justice. Rosa said the initiative should not be taken seriously and predicted Flávio would soon be forgotten and isolated even within the right wing.

Donald Trump told journalists on Wednesday that he would not comment on or get involved with the coup-themed letter. He described the election as very strange. Flávio had planned a press conference for Thursday morning but canceled it and published the written statement instead.