Flávio Bolsonaro calls himself the ‘leader of Brazil’ and alleges fraud after losing the runoff

Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil’s presidential runoff to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on 25 October, has alleged fraud in the second round and said he intends to lead the opposition, in a letter reported by the newspaper Gazeta do Povo on Wednesday.

The letter first described him as “o verdadeiro presidente eleito do Brasil” — “the true president-elect of Brazil”. The wording was later changed to “líder do Brasil”, or “leader of Brazil”. In it, he thanked Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, and US President Donald Trump. The influencer Paulo Figueiredo blamed ChatGPT for the “president-elect” wording, Reuters reported.

Bolsonaro had initially conceded after backing away from a pledge to challenge the result. The electoral court’s count gave Lula about 51.8% of valid votes to Bolsonaro’s 48.2%.

In the United States

Gazeta do Povo reported that Bolsonaro is in the United States with his wife and two daughters. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had ordered the family to hand over their passports and barred them from leaving Brazil, the paper said. The New York Times reported that he is staying in Florida with temporary status, and Reuters reported that Trump does not plan to back his claim to be Brazil’s rightful leader. Trump has avoided commenting directly, saying only that the election “was very strange”.

‘The election is over’

São Paulo governor Tarcísio de Freitas, a political ally, told the newspaper Estadão that he understood Bolsonaro’s indignation, but: “A eleição acabou e agora é preciso olhar para a frente” — “The election is over and now we need to look ahead.” The path, he said, “is to respect the result of the ballot box and move on.”

Lula is due to be sworn in on 5 January 2027.

More: How Lula won the runoff · Fact check: was the runoff rigged? · Brazil’s democracy since 1985: a timeline