Trump confuses India with Brazil amid election, calls US voting ‘corrupt’

US President Donald Trump appeared to confuse India with Brazil in a Truth Social post, claiming that 125 million people had voted in an Indian “presidential election” even though no such election was held in India.

Trump made the claim while attacking the US electoral process, contrasting the alleged speed of the Indian vote count with the time taken to declare results in parts of the United States.

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“125 Million People voted today in the first round of India’s Presidential Election. The results came out shortly after the vote closed, on the SAME DAY,” Trump wrote in the post.

He then cited Detroit, Philadelphia, California and other US cities and states, claiming that election results there could take weeks to “calculate”, before declaring: “Voting in America is CORRUPT!!!”

The post appeared to refer instead to Brazil, which held the first round of its presidential election on Sunday. Around 125.27 million valid votes were recorded in Brazil, a figure that closely matches the 125 million cited by Trump.

The election Trump appeared to mean

Brazil held its first-round presidential election on October 4, with incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva facing right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro.

With 99.99% of votes counted, Flavio Bolsonaro secured 47.03% of the valid vote, while Lula received 45.16%, according to Brazil’s electoral authority. Neither crossed the 50% threshold needed to win outright, sending the two candidates into a runoff on October 25.

Also Read: Brazil presidential vote pits Trump ally against Lula, who is seeking 4th nonconsecutive term

Brazil’s electronic voting system also allowed results to be released rapidly after polling closed, the feature Trump appeared to be comparing with the slower counting process in parts of the US.

India did not have a presidential election

India, meanwhile, did not hold a presidential election on Sunday.

More importantly, Indian voters do not directly elect the President. The President is chosen by an Electoral College comprising elected members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of state and Union Territory legislative assemblies.

Droupadi Murmu, who took office as India’s President in July 2022, is the current President.

In India’s regular general elections, voters directly elect members of the Lok Sabha, while state voters elect members of their respective legislative assemblies. The Prime Minister is then appointed by the President, generally the leader of the party or coalition that commands a majority in the Lok Sabha.

Trump’s comparison with US elections

Trump used the apparent India-Brazil mix-up to renew his criticism of the US voting system, arguing that American results can take much longer to emerge despite smaller numbers of voters.

The US president has repeatedly questioned aspects of the American electoral process and has previously pointed to India’s elections while arguing for tighter voting rules in the United States.

The latest post, however, appeared to conflate three separate facts: India’s large electorate, Brazil’s presidential election and the rapid release of Brazil’s electronic voting results.

The result was a claim about an “Indian presidential election” that did not take place.

(With input from Agencies)