Bolsonaro party accepts Lula win as Flávio holds out
Flávio Bolsonaro's Liberal Party said Monday it accepts President Lula's runoff win. Flávio still has not conceded and says he will ask Brazil's election court to strip Lula's ticket, without evidence. US President Donald Trump said the vote looked rigged, also without evidence.
Flávio Bolsonaro's own Liberal Party broke with him on Monday and recognized President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's runoff win. Party head Valdemar Costa Neto signed a statement that said, "We recognize the presidential election results," as proclaimed by Brazil's Superior Electoral Court. He added that issues raised still need clarifying. Reuters carried the statement. Flávio has not conceded.
On Sunday night Flávio had called the result unacceptable and said he would seek to annul the election after a Supreme Court justice extended voting by two hours. On Monday he shifted. CBN reported he will instead ask the electoral court to strip Lula's ticket over alleged abuse of political and economic power and mass misinformation. He offered no evidence for those claims.
US President Donald Trump said to reporters on Monday that Lula's win "looked like another rigged election," without evidence. He also said he "didn't take sides." Brazil's vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, called Trump's remarks totally wrong and unfounded, Reuters reported.
Lula won by more than 4 million votes. An Insper analysis cited by Reuters found fewer than 35,000 votes, about 0.03 percent of the total, were cast in the two-hour extension Flávio objects to. That margin makes an annulment fight hard to win. Allies had already warned him an annulment bid was unlikely to succeed, CBN said.
Flávio said he will comply with a federal police order to hand over his passports after visiting his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest. He denied planning to flee Brazil. Police are also investigating him in separate financing and money-laundering probes, CBN reported. Jair Bolsonaro is serving a long sentence tied to a plot after his 2022 loss to Lula. World leaders have congratulated Lula on a fourth term. Markets sold off hard on the surprise result.
Brazil's electoral court proclaimed Lula's win. The Liberal Party's recognition undercuts Flávio's refusal to accept the same result. No cassação filing was confirmed on the Monday pages.
What we know: The Liberal Party recognized Lula's win. Flávio has not conceded and says he will seek to strip Lula's ticket. Trump called the vote rigged without evidence.
What we don't: Whether Flávio has filed the cassação case, and how election judges will treat it.
Where outlets agree Reuters and CBN report Flávio Bolsonaro has not conceded Lula's runoff win and plans a legal challenge at Brazil's election court.
Where they differ Flávio's Liberal Party recognized Lula's win in a signed statement. Flávio still refuses to concede and says he will seek to strip Lula's ticket without evidence.