Bolsonaro claims he is Brazil's true leader after fleeing to US

Brazil's defeated right-wing presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro insisted Wednesday he is his country's rightful leader, after fleeing to the United States to start a self-imposed exile.

Bolsonaro's defiance on arrival in Florida signaled continued upheaval for Brazil, where leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won a dramatic runoff election on Sunday.

"I am the elected president, and the criminals who stole Brazil's election are part of a criminal organization that has established a tyranny," Bolsonaro said in the statement published on his X account, slamming "electoral fraud."

"I will lead the opposition from here," he said. In a subsequent statement, he revised his claim, saying he is the "leader," rather than "president."

Bolsonaro touched down earlier Wednesday in a private jet at Opa-Locka Executive Airport near Miami.

US President Donald Trump's hard-right administration has strong links to Bolsonaro and his father Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest in Brazil after attempting to overturn his own electoral loss to Lula in 2022.

Trump reiterated his stand that Brazil's election was "very strange" but told reporters he "won't get involved" in Flavio Bolsonaro's claim to the presidency.

Details of how Bolsonaro, accompanied by his wife and daughters, made it to US soil are still emerging.

He is under investigation in his home country over alleged corruption and money laundering. With his current parliamentary immunity about to expire, he was ordered to surrender his passports but left anyway, reaching the United States via Argentina and Ecuador.