White House reportedly advised Flávio Bolsonaro against declaring himself president-elect
According to sources cited by ICL Notícias, Washington would not endorse a challenge to the election and asked the senator to keep a low profile; he reportedly dropped the phrase "true president-elect" from a letter.
Translated from the Portuguese original by the Panorama newsroom. Read in Portuguese
Summary written by the Panorama newsroom from the sources listed below. Facts are attributed to the original publications.
According to ICL Notícias, the White House rejected Senator Flávio Bolsonaro's (PL-RJ) attempt to present himself as Brazil's president-elect and recommended that he keep a low profile in the coming days. The report relies on a source in the US government, who says Washington was irritated by the tone of a letter the lawmaker released and told Bolsonaro allies that, for now, it would not endorse any initiative to invalidate Brazil's electoral process.
According to the outlet, the assessment is that intervening in the Brazilian dispute would create an extra problem for Donald Trump on the eve of the US midterm elections, scheduled for November 3. The American president already faces criticism from Democratic lawmakers over Flávio's entry into US territory. Intelligence sources cited in the report say an electoral gain was expected from the senator's presence, but the effect was reportedly the opposite.
Trump, who has spoken of fraud, did not endorse Flávio's position. Asked on Thursday (29) about calling Lula, he said he would speak to him, but that the election was "a disgrace for Brazil." He also said he had not taken sides. A second source told ICL that the American irritation led Flávio to remove the phrase "true president-elect of Brazil" from the original letter; Washington reportedly suggested replacing it with "Brazilian leader."
The report also notes that the US government has not imposed restrictions on Brazilian officials. Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira was due to arrive in Miami on Friday (30) for a G20 ministers' meeting and to share a room with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which observers read as a sign of normalcy with the Lula government.
Democrats reacted to the senator's arrival. Representative Joaquin Castro (Texas) wrote that losing an election is not a reason to seek asylum, and members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee questioned Rubio. Jim McGovern, Andy Kim and Shri Thanedar also criticized the treatment given to Flávio. The information is attributed to ICL Notícias' sources; the report does not include a response from Flávio Bolsonaro or the White House.