After the runoff election in Brazil: Flávio Bolsonaro is making a fool of himself

Brazil's failed presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro described himself as the "true elected president of Brazil" in an open letter to the Brazilian people from the United States on Wednesday afternoon. The election loser landed in Miami that morning after an adventurous escape via Argentina and Ecuador. The senator claims in his letter that he did not flee, but left the country for its own good.

The multi-page letter has the national coat of arms of Brazil, in which the country of Brazil is written with a z: “Brazil”. This spelling was abolished in 1931 by then President Getúlio Vargas. In a second version it is correctly called “Brazil”.

The letter was unanimously rejected in Brazil. The ruling PT workers' party demanded a statement from the Brazilian electoral court on Flávio's actions. The head of the electoral court, Kássio Nunes Marques, appointed by Flávio's father Jair, confirmed the legality of the elections without directly referring to Flávio's claims.

“The election is over and the ballot papers must be respected,” commented São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas. After Flávio's departure, he had already put himself forward as a right-wing candidate for 2030. Flávio's statement caused a wave of irony and ridicule on social media: Internet users presented themselves with presidential sashes and shared AI-generated videos in which the election winner, President Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva, laughed his head off.

A few minutes later, Flávio backed down and published a third variant on

After a series of unproven allegations against the Supreme Federal Court, the electoral court and the government of Brazil, which range from electoral fraud to abuse of power to the qualification of the current government as a "dictatorship", the senator also compares himself in the third variant with historical figures such as Charles de Gaulle, who also successfully steered the fortunes of their country from abroad. Flávio Bolsonaro announced that he would fight from the USA to free the Brazilian people.

US President Donald Trump, who granted residence permits to Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters, said when asked by reporters that he would not interfere in the matter. Shortly after the election, he described it as manipulated without giving any details. More than a hundred countries have already recognized Lula's election victory. So far, only the ultra-right Argentine President Javier Milei has not taken a position on the election results in Brazil.

Flávio Bolsonaro lost the runoff election against Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday with 48.2 to 51.8 percent. In his letter, Bolsonaro attributes the 10 million votes that his competitor gained in the runoff to the extended opening hours of polling stations by two hours. Chief Justice Cristiano Zanin approved this after there were problems with local transport in several cities. In fact, according to the electoral court, only 3.7 million voted after 5 p.m. in the extra time. Bolsonaro's party acknowledged his election defeat on Tuesday.

After Bolsonaro's defeat, the federal police canceled his passports because of several lawsuits against him and the chief federal judge Alexandre de Morães banned him from leaving the country.