WASHINGTON – Brazil’s right-wing presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, fled the country after his defeat in the presidential runoff election and is on a plane headed to the United States, according to Reuters and multiple Brazilian media reports.
Bolsonaro fled Brazil after he was banned from leaving the country and ordered to surrender his passport by Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, as part of a criminal investigation into Bolsonaro’s alleged involvement in a money laundering scheme.
The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party also did not respond to a comment request.
Bolsonaro suffered a surprise defeat
to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the second round of the presidential election on Oct. 25. Lula, the 80-year-old incumbent leftist, won with 51.79% of the vote in a stunning comeback after Bolsonaro emerged as a the leading candidate in the first round of the election earlier this month.
Bolsonaro refused to concede defeat and pledged to contest the results after Brazil’s Supreme Court extended the election by two hours in a last-minute decision that reportedly sowed confusion at polling stations across the country.
Trump did not formally endorse Bolsonaro but derided the voting process in remarks to reporters on Oct. 26.
"It looked like another rigged election, frankly," he said. "I thought it had a very bad look, the way it was tabulated."
Bolsonaro is the eldest son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year-sentence under house arrest after a Brazilian court convicted him of an attempted coup. Jair Bolsonaro is a close political ally of Trump.
Flávio’s younger brother Eduardo Bolsonaro, who has lived in Texas since 2025, suggested during an Oct. 23 appearance on the "Louder with Crowder" podcast that his sibling should flee Brazil if he didn’t win the election. Eduardo fled to the U.S. and was sentenced in absentia to four years and two months in prison by a Brazilian court after he was convicted of lobbying the U.S. government to interfere in their father’s criminal trial.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump ally Bolsonaro flees to US after losing Brazil election
