Brazil's Lula mocks Flavio Bolsonaro over Trump's US midterm election defeat
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva mocked his defeated election rival Flavio Bolsonaro on Thursday, saying his arrival in the US brought bad luck to US President Donald Trump following Republican losses in the midterm elections.
cumhuriyet.com.tr"He's bad luck. He made Trump lose. He arrived in the United States, and Trump lost," Lula said during a YouTube livestream alongside Brazilian lawmaker Andre Janones, according to Brazilian media reports.
Lula was referring to Bolsonaro's departure for the US after losing Brazil's Oct. 25 presidential runoff to Lula, who secured a fourth term in office.
Bolsonaro, a senator and son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, traveled to Miami following his electoral defeat amid investigations into alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion.
The Brazilian president accused his former rival of seeking protection in the US and warned that he would eventually have to return to Brazil to face legal proceedings.
"He went there seeking protection. You'll see what kind of protection you get. You'll have to return to Brazil to face the legal cases against you," Agencia Estado, a Brazilian news agency, quoted Lula as saying.
His remarks followed Tuesday's US midterm elections, in which Democrats secured control of both chambers of Congress, dealing a major political setback to Trump's Republican Party.
Bolsonaro has refused to concede his election defeat, claiming electoral fraud without presenting evidence.