Trump has no plans to back Flávio Bolsonaro's claim to lead Brazil despite granting the defeated candidate a US visa
Flávio Bolsonaro, whose Brazilian political allies have refused to back his fraud claims, with analysts warning his US exile leaves a dangerous power vacuum on the right.
Trump has called Brazil's election "rigged," but US officials confirmed on Thursday that he has no current plans to back Bolsonaro's assertion that he is Brazil's legitimate leader, even though Bolsonaro and his family have been granted entry visas. A third US official cautioned that Bolsonaro's political standing has crumbled since he went into self-imposed exile, with Brazilian conservatives condemning his departure.
Bolsonaro fled Brazil on Tuesday via Argentina and Ecuador, landing in Miami with his wife and two daughters, after ignoring a court order to surrender his passports.
For 58 minutes on Wednesday, Bolsonaro declared himself "the true president-elect of Brazil" in a letter reportedly drafted with ChatGPT — Brazilian media branded him an 'amateur moron'.
Rightwing leaders including Italy's Giorgia Meloni and El Salvador's Nayib Bukele have accepted Lula's 3.5-percentage-point victory, leaving Bolsonaro's challenge to the result without allies.
