US President Donald Trump said early Wednesday that he would have no objection to defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Senator Flavio Bolsonaro entering the United States, while renewing his criticism of Brazil’s presidential election.
Speaking to reporters after returning from campaign rallies in Texas ahead of next week’s US midterm elections, Trump indicated that he would approve Bolsonaro’s arrival.
“Would I approve them? Yeah, I would approve it. I would think it would be okay with me,” Trump said.
His remarks followed Sunday’s Brazilian presidential runoff, in which President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defeated Bolsonaro by more than four million votes.
Trump described the election as “very strange” and criticised the electoral process, although he maintained that he had not publicly supported either candidate.
“I didn’t endorse in Brazil. I thought I’d stay out of that one,” he said, adding that he accepted the result but considered the process “terrible.”
When questioned about Bolsonaro’s whereabouts, Trump said he was uncertain whether the Brazilian senator had already travelled abroad.
“I heard he was in Argentina. I don’t know where he is,” he told reporters.
The comments came a day after a senior US State Department official confirmed to Anadolu that Washington would issue visas to Bolsonaro and members of his family.
Meanwhile, Brazilian newspaper O Globo, citing sources close to the family, reported that Bolsonaro had arrived in Miami, Florida, where he was received by his brother Eduardo Bolsonaro.
According to the report, Eduardo had allegedly assisted in coordinating his brother’s departure from Brazil with American authorities.
Bolsonaro reportedly left Brazil despite a judicial travel restriction imposed on Monday by a justice of the country’s Supreme Federal Court, a day after his defeat in the presidential runoff.
Brazil’s Federal Police subsequently cancelled his ordinary and diplomatic passports on Tuesday after he failed to comply with a judicial order requiring him to surrender the documents.
The travel restrictions were imposed in connection with an investigation into suspected money laundering and currency evasion involving financial transactions linked to one of Bolsonaro’s associates.
The reported departure and subsequent passport cancellations have added a legal dimension to the aftermath of Brazil’s presidential election, while Trump’s willingness to allow Bolsonaro into the United States has drawn further attention to the case.
Brazilian authorities have not confirmed in the information reported whether Bolsonaro’s alleged departure violated additional court orders or what further legal action may follow.