Trump Mixes Up India and Brazil, Claims 125 Million Voted in Election
Donald Trump appeared to confuse Brazil with India while discussing Brazil’s presidential election and criticising the US voting system.
US President Donald Trump appeared to confuse Brazil with India in a Truth Social post about Brazil’s presidential election, claiming that 125 million people had voted in the “first round of India’s Presidential Election.”
Trump used the figure while criticising the US election system and arguing that results in other countries were announced more quickly. The number, however, was broadly consistent with Brazil’s first-round voting rather than any Indian presidential election.
India does not elect its President through a nationwide popular vote. The Election Commission of India says the President is elected by an Electoral College comprising elected MPs and members of state and certain Union Territory legislatures. The election uses proportional representation through the single transferable vote.
Trump’s post came after Brazil held its first-round presidential election on October 4. Senator Flavio Bolsonaro finished ahead of incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, with the two set to face each other in a runoff on October 25.
The India-Brazil mix-up quickly became a talking point online, with users mocking the error and recalling previous occasions when Trump appeared to confuse countries.
Apparently, geography has joined the list of things the internet is happy to fact-check in real time.
