Brazil election front-runner Lula calls Bolsonaro ‘worse than Trump’
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is “a bit worse than (Donald) Trump,” leftist election front-runner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva mentioned on Friday, describing him as “ruder, much less civilized and a nasty copy,” of the previous U.S. president.
Bolsonaro, a far-right populist who trails Lula in polls forward of the Oct. 2 election, has lengthy admired Trump and has been dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics.” The 2 had been ideological allies, and the time they overlapped was one in all nearer ties between the 2 largest nations within the Americas.
In contrast, Bolsonaro was one of many final world leaders to acknowledge President Joe Biden’s election victory, and ties between Brasilia and Washington have develop into frostier since Trump left workplace.
Critics concern Bolsonaro might search to repeat Trump and refuse to just accept dropping to Lula within the upcoming election. For months, Bolsonaro has been making unfounded claims of election fraud, and mentioned the nation’s broadly praised digital voting system lacks credibility, sparking fears of a constitutional disaster.
Lula, talking with reporters in Rio de Janeiro, mentioned the world was a greater place with out individuals like Bolsonaro and Trump in cost.
“The world is already struggling rather a lot,” Lula mentioned, including he would have most popular if Bolsonaro had modeled himself on Biden and his Democratic predecessors Barack Obama and Invoice Clinton.
Bolsonaro’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Modifying by David Gregorio)
