Trump Rips Brazil Election as “Not Nice” – Compares Lula Win to History’s Worst Cheaters
Donald Trump did not mince words at a rally this week when he turned his attention to Brazil’s presidential runoff. While hammering Democrats as the greatest cheaters in election history, he paused to note that Brazil is right there with them.
“They’re the greatest cheaters of elections, although Brazil’s doing a pretty good job also, aren’t they? Did you see that one? That was not nice,” Trump told the crowd. He added that he did not take sides in the race, “but I did not like it. It did not look too good.”
The comments come after leftist incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva edged out Senator Flávio Bolsonaro by roughly 4.4 million votes, or about 51.8 percent to 48.2 percent.
The result followed a last-minute decision by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin to extend voting hours by two hours nationwide over claimed transportation problems. Fewer than 35,000 ballots were cast during that window, according to analyses of electoral records, yet critics say the move created an unacceptable appearance of interference in a close contest.
Trump had already flagged the process the day before, telling reporters the election “looked like another rigged election” and that “the extension given was very strange.” He called the overall tabulation “so corrupt, so terrible” and a “terrible look for the world,” while noting that elections must be beyond dispute.
Flávio Bolsonaro initially refused to concede and called for the result to be annulled, citing the extension and other irregularities. His Liberal Party later acknowledged Lula’s win, but the episode has fueled ongoing questions about the integrity of Brazil’s electronic voting system and the role of its Supreme Court in last-minute rule changes.
Trump’s remarks reinforce long-standing concerns among conservatives that narrow victories secured under unusual procedural shifts demand the closest possible scrutiny, not automatic acceptance.