Bolsonaro’s arrival in Florida ended days of confusion over his whereabouts, after it was reported that he had traveled to Argentina and then, prematurely, that he had already entered the US on Tuesday. In a statement, Bolsonaro thanked both the presidents of Argentina and the US, and the American public “who share the same values as the good people of my own country.” “It was never my intention to leave my homeland, but I know exactly where this is going,” he said. “I left a regime of exception to be able to become the leader that my people deserve.” He called himself a victim of a coup d’état and political persecution, and said his trip to the United States was to protect his family. In the lengthy letter, he also repeated baseless accusations of “voter fraud” that he said allowed a “mathematical impossibility” to occur in the election. On Wednesday, Trump declined to discuss the allegations made in Bolsonaro’s letter. “I won’t get involved. It was a very strange election, that’s for sure,” Trump said. He went on to add that he thought Bolsonaro “and his family were treated very unfairly.” After Bolsonaro won the first round of Brazil’s elections, Lula won the second round by more than four million votes, which was attributed to significantly higher turnout and a larger number of undecided voters. The result was confirmed by the president of Brazil’s highest electoral court, who was appointed by Bolsonaro’s father, former president Jair Bolsonaro. Speculation about Bolsonaro’s whereabouts was first sparked by a report on an Argentine news site, which claimed that he had crossed the land border between Brazil and Argentina and then boarded a private plane bound for the United States. Brazilian police took the rumors seriously. Early Tuesday, they checked border crossings but found no evidence that Bolsonaro had left the country, and Argentine officials said they had no reports that he had crossed. For a while, it looked like Bolsonaro might simply be keeping an unusually low profile after being unexpectedly beaten by his leftist rival in Sunday’s presidential runoff, as well as a criminal investigation that led to orders for his passports to be turned over to authorities. But when he failed to hand over his passports in time to meet the 24-hour deadline on Tuesday, Brazilian authorities canceled the documents and ordered police to carry out checks at border posts. Speculation quickly grew that he had left the country and Bolsonaro’s lawyers said they had no idea where he was.
