Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and his wife Rosangela Da Silva, gesture as he holds the Brazilian flag with Roberto Requiao, candidate for state governor of Parana, during a rally in Curitiba, Brazil. (Photo by Reuters)
Miami, October 29 (RHC)-- Former U.S. President Donald Trump has ranted against Brazil's former two-term president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and hailed the country’s current President Jair Bolsonaro. Trump on Friday called Bolsonaro a "great" leader and urged Brazilians to vote him in for another term.
"VOTE for President JAIR BOLSONARO -- HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. The Donald called Sunday's runoff election a "big day for Brazil."
Meanwhile, the former Republican president called Lula "a Radical Left Lunatic who will quickly destroy your Country." Trump has also previously pushed for Bolsonaro's reelection, saying before the October 2nd first-round vote that he is "a fantastic man, one of the great presidents of any country in the world." And Trump derided Bolsonaro's opponent as "Lulu" rather than using his nickname of "Lula."
Polls give a slight edge to Lula in Sunday's runoff but Bolsonaro surprised polling firms with more solid results than forecast in the October 2 first round. Lula has 53 percent of the vote heading into the runoff, to 47 percent for Bolsonaro, according to a poll released by the Datafolha institute.
The previous Datafolha institute showed Lula leading with 49 percent to Bolsonaro's 45 percent. Meanwhile, one percent still of expected voters remain undecided and four percent have indicated they would vote white.
Lula was the front-runner in the polls for months, with a 21-point lead over Bolsonaro in May, according to the Datafolha Institute. However, Bolsonaro surprised in the first round on October 2nd, getting 43 percent of the vote, only five points behind Lula, a much smaller gap than polls had projected.
In the final phase of the campaign, Bolsonaro has reduced his attacks on electronic voting and turned on polling firms, which he accused of "lying" to favor his main rival.
