RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro on Wednesday declared himself the rightful president-elect of Brazil, asserting that leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the country’s Supreme Court had orchestrated an electoral coup d’etat to deny his victory.
Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday’s presidential election, has since departed Brazil for Miami, where he and his family have reportedly received U.S. visas. In an open letter shared by his allies, Bolsonaro thanked President Trump and Argentine leader Javier Milei for facilitating his departure and for their welcome.
"I want to say, not only to my 60 million voters but to the Brazilian people, that I am the elected president and that the criminals who stole Brazil’s election are part of a criminal organization that has established a tyranny," he stated.
Bolsonaro did not present evidence to support his claims of electoral fraud. International observers have concluded that Sunday's vote was conducted fairly.
Bolsonaro and his family arrived in Miami on Wednesday, leaving Brazil after he reportedly declined to comply with a Brazilian Supreme Court order to surrender his passports. This departure followed a court order related to a money-laundering investigation, in which Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing.
Neither Lula’s office, the federal electoral court, nor the supreme court immediately responded to requests for comment.
Bolsonaro based his rejection of the election results on the fact that a Supreme Court justice, appointed by Lula, extended voting by two hours on Sunday. This extension was reportedly due to allegations of voter suppression in left-leaning northeastern states, brought forth by Lula’s campaign. However, Bolsonaro’s campaign had also sought an extension due to rain in conservative-leaning southern states.
Bolsonaro lost the election to Lula by more than 4.5 million votes. According to an analysis of electoral records by Insper professor Pedro Burgos, fewer than 35,000 votes, approximately 0.03% of the total, were cast during the additional two hours of voting ordered by the Supreme Court.