WASHINGTON — Former Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro arrived in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday with his family after leaving Brazil following his unexpected election defeat.
His arrival came after President Trump indicated that he would support Flavio seeking refuge in the United States. The move followed an order from Alexandre de Moraes, the controversial vice president of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court, requiring Flavio to surrender his passport.
“Well, I would approve,” Trump told reporters late Tuesday when asked about Flavio coming to the US. “The election was very strange, and I thought it was terrible.”
Trump said he had not endorsed either candidate, adding that he knew both men. “I know [Brazilian President Luiz Inácio] Lula [da Silva], I know Flavio a little bit,” he said. “But I wasn’t involved.”
The Post previously reported that the State Department was expected to issue visas to Flavio and his family. He left Brazil accompanied by his wife and their two daughters.
Trump has maintained a close relationship with Flavio’s father, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who lost the 2022 election to Lula. Flavio’s brother, Eduardo, was already residing in the United States before Flavio’s arrival.
Flavio, who serves as a Brazilian senator, led the first round of voting earlier this month. But in Sunday’s runoff, the 81-year-old Lula mounted a dramatic late-stage comeback and secured the presidency.
The election was shadowed by controversy. Both Flavio and Lula had requested that voting hours be extended nationwide, citing transportation problems that they said could disrupt access to polling stations.
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Cristiano Zanin, a Brazilian Supreme Court justice who previously represented Lula as an attorney, approved a two-hour extension across the country. Questions nevertheless emerged over whether the additional voting time was implemented consistently in every area.
Lula’s win ran against a global backlash against incumbent leaders, as well as a broader South American shift toward conservative governments. His margin of victory was also substantial.
Lula received more than 64 million votes, compared with fewer than 60 million for Bolsonaro’s son, producing a victory margin of roughly four percentage points.
Flavio has not been charged with a crime and has described the investigation as politically motivated persecution. The inquiry is reportedly linked to allegations involving corruption, money laundering and connections to other scandals that have shaken Brazilian politics.
Moraes, one of Brazil’s most polarizing Supreme Court figures, ordered that Flavio’s passports be seized after the senator reportedly said during a podcast that he would leave the country if he lost the election.
The justice has led an aggressive campaign against right-wing figures in Brazil, prompting concerns over censorship. He has also faced questions of his own involving alleged corruption.
Lula spent time in prison between 2018 and 2019 after being convicted on corruption charges. Brazil’s Supreme Court later annulled those convictions, clearing the way for him to seek reelection. Jair Bolsonaro, meanwhile, is serving a 27-year sentence tied to an alleged coup attempt following his 2022 defeat.
Trump was notably close to Jair Bolsonaro, whose foreign-policy views were widely seen as more aligned with the United States than Lula’s.