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Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of imprisoned ex-president Jair Bolsonaro and an ally of US president Donald Trump, suffered a major defeat in Brazil on Sunday, when left-wing incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (known simply as Lula) secured a historic fourth term – and Trump reacted to the election result by casting doubt on its legitimacy.
Bolsonaro refused to concede after Lula secured a vote share of more than 51 per cent compared to his 48 per cent, and said he would ask for the result to be annulled.
“It is impossible to recognize the election results, given the circumstances under which things unfolded,” Bolsonaro told journalists.
And in a development which hasn’t taken many by surprise, Trump was critical of the election’s integrity, branding it “terrible”.
He told reporters on Monday: “I thought it was a terrible looking … I didn’t take sides, but it looked like another rigged election, frankly.
“I didn’t take sides, but it was a terrible look for the world … Elections have to be indisputable, and it looked very bad to me.”
The comments have since been met with criticism online, with writer and content creator Evan Tarracciano tweeting: “Because every time this idiot doesn’t get what he wants, it’s rigged, stolen, or someone cheated. What an absolute child”:
Steven Pifer, former US ambassador to Ukraine, wrote: “Every election whose outcome Trump does not like is, by definition, ‘rigged.’”:
An account known as Tea Pain, with more than 680, 000 followers, said: “Translated: ‘it didn’t turn out the way I wanted’”:
Political commentator Jo Carducci responded with laugh emojis and the words: “He’s so sad”:
And fellow commentator Ed Krassenstein branded Trump a “national disgrace”:
Brazil’s election is the first in a series of pivotal elections taking place in the coming weeks, with Israelis heading to the polls on Tuesday (October 27) and the US midterms happening on 3 November.
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