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Fact CheckPoliticsBrazil

Fact check: Was Brazil’s runoff “rigged”? What the evidence shows

Donald Trump said Brazil’s 25 October vote “looked like another rigged election.” He offered no evidence — and the losing side accepted the result.

By Rational Times Fact Check · Updated 29 Oct 2026, 09:30 IST · 2 min read
The claimBrazil’s 25 October 2026 presidential runoff “looked like another rigged election.” — U.S. President Donald TrumpNo evidence

The claim

After Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Flávio Bolsonaro in Brazil’s runoff, U.S. President Donald Trump said the vote “looked like another rigged election.”

What we found

  • No evidence was offered. Reports of Trump’s remarks note that he gave no evidence for the claim.
  • The losing candidate conceded. Bolsonaro backed off an earlier pledge to challenge the result and conceded. His Liberal Party later acknowledged the outcome.
  • Brazilian officials rejected the claim. Brazil’s vice president dismissed the suggestion of rigging, according to The Rio Times.
  • The margin was not narrow. Lula won 51.79% of valid votes to 48.21% in the reported count — a gap of almost 4.5 million votes, with turnout above 80%.

Verdict: No evidence

We found no evidence to support the claim that the runoff was rigged. The defeated candidate and his party accepted the result.

How we rate claims: see our fact-check methodology. Spotted a claim we should check? Tell us.

Update, 29 October 2026: In a letter reported by Gazeta do Povo on 28 October, Flávio Bolsonaro alleged fraud in the second round and called himself the “leader of Brazil”, having earlier conceded. His ally Tarcísio de Freitas, the governor of São Paulo, said the result should be respected. Our verdict on the claim checked here is unchanged; we will review any evidence that is put forward. Read the latest.

BrazilDonald TrumpElectionsFact checkMisinformation

Sources

  1. Democracy Now! — Headlines, 27 October 2026
  2. Just Security — Early Edition, 27 October 2026 (citing POLITICO, Reuters)
  3. The Rio Times — Brazil election results 2026
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