Trump calls Brazil election 'disgraceful,' declines to recognize Lula's win

Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) called the result of Brazil's presidential election, won by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — widely regarded as the godfather of South America's left — "a very big embarrassment for the people of Brazil."

Trump made the remarks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington before departing for a midterm campaign rally, saying the Brazilian presidential election "was a shame," Yonhap reported.

The comments amounted to a pointed expression of dissatisfaction with the outcome of the Brazilian election, in which Lula prevailed.

Asked whether Trump recognized Lula's victory, Trump declined to answer directly. "I don't want to get into it right now, but that election was a very big embarrassment for the people of Brazil," Trump said.

Trump went on to say, "I watched the election, and I let it go," adding that Lula had asked him not to take sides. "I didn't take sides, but watching what happened in Brazil, it was a disgrace," Trump said.

Trump also weighed in on the sharp drop in Brazilian stock markets following Lula's victory, saying he thought it was "a very dishonorable situation for Brazil."

Trump earlier said Brazil vote 'looks like a rigged election'

US President Donald Trump [Getty Images]

Trump had already reacted to the Brazilian election result on Monday (local time), saying it "looks like a rigged election" after the outcome went against his expectations.

Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews on that occasion as well, Trump said the Brazilian election "looked terrible" and that, while he had not taken sides, "it looked like another rigged election."

Asked what action he would take in response to the result, Trump said, "I don't govern Brazil. I govern the United States," adding that he believed "there were some very unfortunate things that happened with respect to the counting in the election."

Trump offered no evidence to support his claim that the Brazilian election "looked like a rigged election."

Although Trump had not publicly backed any candidate in the Brazilian race, he had praised right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro's first-round performance and described the election as "a very important election."

Meanwhile, Lula secured a fourth term in office, defeating Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro reportedly fled to the United States in defiance of a court-ordered travel ban following the election defeat.

yul@heraldcorp.com