Flávio Bolsonaro Says Brazil’s Election Was Manipulated and Claims He Lost to the System, Not Lula

Flávio Bolsonaro has accused Brazil’s electoral system of manipulating the presidential election he lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, insisting that the result was mathematically impossible while acknowledging that challenging it through Brazilian institutions would lead nowhere.

“I am absolutely certain that I lost because of foul play,” Bolsonaro said in an interview with The New York Times, published Thursday, November 5. “I lost to the system. I did not lose to my opponent.”

The senator questioned how Lula could gain more than 10.3 million votes between the two rounds while his own total rose by just over 3.5 million. He challenged mathematicians and statisticians to explain the increase, arguing that neither the campaign nor the second-round debates justified such a change.

Bolsonaro also pointed to victories by political allies in 19 state governorship races, questioning how Lula could win the presidency while right-wing candidates performed strongly elsewhere. “It is an enormous inconsistency. It does not add up,” he said.

Official results, however, show Lula won the October 25 runoff with 64.26 million votes, or 51.79%, against Bolsonaro’s 59.83 million, or 48.21%. No evidence has emerged establishing that the election was manipulated.

Bolsonaro defended his departure from Brazil shortly after the vote, saying he expected imprisonment if he stayed to face legal proceedings.

He insisted he had arranged his journey to the United States without government assistance, but refused to explain the route. Joking that he had swum to Africa, cycled to Europe and walked to America, he said he would take the real details “to my grave.”

His account conflicts with reporting that a White House official helped arrange the private aircraft used to reach Florida. Bolsonaro nevertheless maintained that he entered Argentina and the United States legally and received no government assistance with the journey.

He thanked President Donald Trump for allowing him and his family to remain in the United States, while denying that Trump had interfered in Brazil’s election or supported his candidacy.

Bolsonaro also argued that Lula’s reported support among prison voters raised questions about the outcome, but offered no evidence connecting those votes to electoral manipulation.

Despite remaining abroad, he said he had not abandoned his presidential ambitions.

“If there are new elections, obviously I will be a candidate again.”