Supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro are calling for an investigation into Sunday’s election after he falsified polls and forced the race to a runoff, according to his son.
Eduardo Bolsonaro credited a video message from Donald Trump with helping his father get within five points of leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
And he said Brazilians expect Trump to return to the White House.
But he reserved particular anger over polls that had given Lula a double-digit lead, which he says may have prompted some supporters to vote for other candidates.
“We don’t think they were wrong by any mistake or science,” he told .
“They were wrong because they are trying to influence the elections.”
The highly polarized election will decide whether the country returns a leftist to the top of the world’s fourth-largest democracy or keeps the far-right incumbent in office for another four years.
With 48.4 percent of the vote, Da Silva almost achieved an absolute majority against Bolsonaro’s 43.2 percent.
President Jair Bolsonaro smashed expectations when he narrowly lost to left-wing challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil’s elections on Sunday
The president’s son Eduardo, who is also a member of the Chamber of Deputies, said the result showed pollsters were not only wrong but actively trying to influence the outcome
Eduardo Bolsonaro also praised a promotional video Trump recorded on his private plane on Saturday night, which he says had a major impact on the outcome
But that’s enough to indicate that the right-wing wave he rode to the presidency in 2019 remains a force, and has led his supporters to believe he can catch up with the eliminated candidates, giving him a way to go to win the October 30 runoff .
And his son said Trump’s influence shows the former president has remained a major force in international politics.
Trump captured video confirmation as his private jet prepared to take off from Michigan after a rally Saturday night.
“For the people of Brazil, you have a great opportunity to re-elect an amazing leader, an amazing man, one of the greatest presidents of any country in the world – President Bolsonaro,” Trump said.
“He has done an absolutely incredible job with your economy, with your country. He is respected by everyone around the world.’
Eduardo Bolsonaro said the video went viral after it was posted on his father’s Instagram account.
Bolsonaro visited Trump’s White House in March 2019
Bolsonaro presented Trump with a Brazilian football shirt during this visit
A year later, Bolsonaro joined Trump and officials from both sides for a working lunch in Mar-a-Lago. Eduardo Bolsonaro is pictured on the left
“The video was amazing,” he said, adding that it received more than 100,000 comments.
“It was by far number one when you talk about foreign support for President Bolsonaro.”
He dismissed claims by Trump’s opponents that the former president’s influence was waning.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
“They have a great expectation for the Brazilians here that he will be President of the United States again. So his status is not the status of a normal politician.’
Bolsonaro was a frequent visitor to Trump’s White House and Mar-A-Lago, the former President’s Florida home.
Both the Brazilian President and his son are featured in the former President’s book, Our Journey Together.
Bolsonaro has at times followed Trump’s playbook, invoking his nationalist rhetoric, downplaying concerns about COVID-19 and claiming – without citing evidence – that electronic voting machines are vulnerable to fraud.
He did not contest the result of Sunday’s vote.
But his son said they were collecting signatures to launch a congressional investigation.
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva poses for a vote upon his arrival at his bastion of Sao Paulo
Supporters of former president and presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva celebrated the announcement of the partial results of Brazil’s elections
At the same time, supporters of the Brazilian President celebrated a better-than-expected performance in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday
He said the results of other Bolsonaro Liberal Party candidates were better than the president’s result.
“Oddly, if you look at the votes for president, you haven’t seen the same results for Bolsanaro, which means you have some people voting for our gubernatorial nominees voting for Lula for president,” he said.
But he is confident that the second ballot will go its way as many local elections are already over.
“It is very common that when the local politician runs for office, they pay buses to take their constituents there,” he said.
“We don’t think they will do that again.
“At the same time, we think our people are getting more excited.”