Trump Mixes Up Brazil and India While Praising Election Count Speed
US President Donald Trump mistakenly referred to Brazil as India in a Truth Social post praising the speed of vote counting, using the claim to criticize Democratic-run US cities; he corrected the post hours later.
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The mistaken post
On the night of Sunday, October 4, US President Donald Trump published a post on his Truth Social platform praising the speed of an electronic voting system, but mistakenly attributed the vote to India instead of Brazil. He wrote that "125 million people voted today in the first round of the presidential election," with results announced the same day shortly after polls closed.
Criticism of Democratic-run cities
Trump used the fast count to contrast with the United States, naming Detroit, Philadelphia, California and several other Democratic-run cities and states, where, he said, results involving far smaller numbers often take weeks to be announced. He claimed voting in the US is "CORRUPT," using a play on words between votes being "counted" and "stolen." Both sources note the remarks fit into Trump's broader pressure campaign ahead of the US midterm elections, in which his Republican Party is seeking to keep control of Congress.
Correction issued
Hours later, Trump corrected the post, naming Brazil correctly. The sources differ slightly on how the error arose. According to Gaúcha ZH, no election took place in India that Sunday — the country's last general election was held in June 2024, with 642 million voters participating, and although India also uses electronic voting machines, final results that year were announced three days after voting.
Context of the Brazilian election
According to Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE), 125 million of the country's 158.7 million eligible voters cast ballots. Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and President Lula advanced to a runoff. Flávio received 47.03% of valid votes (56,104,503 votes), while Lula received 45.16% (53,879,538 votes), according to TSE figures cited by G1. The runoff is scheduled for three weeks later. If elected, Flávio, 45, would be sworn in on January 5, 2027, in the same seat held by his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, from 2019 to 2022. If Lula wins, he would begin a fourth presidential term at age 81, becoming the first Brazilian elected president four times. G1 notes that in his previous comments about the Brazilian election, Trump avoided naming any specific candidate, although he said he was following the vote "very closely."
