Daniel Wolfram
After he vowed to stay in Brazil and fight the charges, Flávio Bolsonaro is fleeing the country to avoid the same fate as his father. The Trump administration has welcomed him to the US with open arms.
Brazilian senator and presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro lost the election on Sunday to incumbent Lula da Silva.
On election day, there were widespread allegations from Lula of election interference by Bolsonaro’s party. Eventually, the Brazilian Supreme Court made some of the voting stations extend their opening times by two hours.
Bolsonaro lost the election by four million votes. However, even with that big a margin, Bolsonaro still claimed that the election was rigged and rejected the outcome.
Authorities in Brazil then suspended his passports in order to fully investigate him. But now no one can seem to locate the son of the former president. Luckily, an American ally who currently occupies the American presidency has been willing to give the disgraced senator asylum.
Missing in action
Flávio Bolsonaro cannot be located after losing Sunday’s presidential race. His own campaign manager and legal team admitted they have no idea where he is.
While no one knows where he is, there seems to be an idea of where he is headed. Late last night, a senior Trump administration official confirmed to news outlets that the State Department has agreed to issue entry visas to Bolsonaro and his family who also fled.
This comes just one day after Brazil’s Supreme Court barred Bolsonaro from leaving the country.
Pressure back in Brazil
The legal pressure has mounted quickly. Brazilian authorities are not investigating Bolsonaro for election interference, but rather for the suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering.
Shortly before vanishing, he posted an emotional video, according to NPR. In the video, he claimed that Brazilian authorities waited for him outside the home of his father’s home where he is under house arrest. “I never thought about leaving the country,” Bolsonaro insisted, adding, “I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this aberration.”
Meanwhile, Donald Trump was quick to defend the losing candidate. Speaking at a Texas campaign rally, the president called the election “rigged” without offering evidence. “Brazil is also doing a good job of it, aren’t they? Did you see that? I didn’t take sides, but it didn’t look very good,” he told the crowd.
Lula did not hold back. Speaking during his 81st birthday celebration in Brasília, the president insisted that an innocent man would stay and clear his name. “Those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear,” he told supporters, before targeting his rival’s American ties: “Brazil is their second home; their first home is the United States.”
