Flavio Bolsonaro declares himself ‘elected president’ of Brazil after arriving in Miami: ‘criminals who stole Brazil’s election’

Brazilian senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who arrived in Miami on Wednesday, has declared himself the rightful president of Brazil, alleging that the country’s Supreme Court and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva orchestrated an electoral coup d’etat. Bolsonaro, however, recently lost Sunday’s presidential election to Lula by more than 4 million votes.

The senator left Brazil for Miami, where he and his family received US visas. He thanked President Trump and Argentine leader Javier Milei for helping him leave and welcoming him to the US. “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 said in an open letter posted on X.

Bolsonaro and his family arrived in Miami on Wednesday, leaving Brazil after he refused to comply with a Brazilian Supreme Court order to surrender his passports. He departed under a shroud of secrecy after the court order, which relates to a money-laundering investigation in which he denies any wrongdoing.

Bolsonaro did not ‘abandon the Brazilian people’

In his letter, Bolsonaro denied fleeing Brazil, saying he left to protect himself and his family and to avoid being the victim of a witch hunt he accused Lula and the Brazilian Supreme Court of carrying out. “I want to make this clear: I did not flee Brazil,” he said. “I left Brazil, but I did not abandon the Brazilian people.”

Bolsonaro lost to Lula by around 4.5 million votes. Fewer than 35,000 votes, or about 0.03% of the total, were cast during the extra two hours of voting ordered by the Supreme Court, according to an analysis of electoral records by Insper professor Pedro Burgos. Neither Lula’s office, the federal electoral court, nor the Supreme Court immediately responded to requests for comment.

Asked by reporters at Joint Base Andrews about Bolsonaro’s comments, Trump declined to comment, reiterating earlier views that it was a “very strange election.” The US State Department has stated it will grant Bolsonaro and his family US visas.

Bolsonaro’s departure and his arrival in Florida, mirroring his father Jair Bolsonaro’s move to the US after previous presidential elections, could deepen a rift between the two most populous countries in the Americas. During the campaign, incumbent President Lula accused the Trump administration of colluding with the Bolsonaro family to facilitate their return to power.

After the election, Trump appeared to question the vote’s integrity, calling the extension of voting times a “very bad look.” He has previously claimed that Jair Bolsonaro was the victim of judicial persecution in Brazil. Jair Bolsonaro is now in jail in Brazil on charges of leading a conspiracy to remain in power despite his defeat in the 2022 presidential election.