Kamala’s victory is much safer to strengthen democracy in the USA, says Lula

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva publicly declared for the first time, this Friday, the 1st, that he supports the Democratic Party candidate, Kamala Harris, in the race for President of the United States against the Republican Party candidate, Donald Trump.

Four days before the American election, Lula stated that Vice President Kamala’s victory is the “safest option for strengthening democracy in the USA”. The PT member associated former President Trump with the attacks on the Capitol on January 6, 2020. The former president became the target of criminal investigations related to the episode.

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“Kamala winning the elections is much safer for us to strengthen democracy in the USA,” said Lula, in an interview with French TV channel TF1. “We saw what President Trump was like at the end of his term, carrying out that attack on the Capitol, something that was unthinkable to happen in the USA, because the USA presented itself to the world as a model of democracy. This model has collapsed.”

The PT member is an ally of current President Joe Biden, also a Democrat. In a tone similar to that adopted to defend the vote for Kamala, Lula had already expressed public support for Biden, before his withdrawal from the race. The PT member argued that Biden should be a participant in the decision on whether to replace him with his vice-president, while questions were growing about the American president’s physical and mental capacity to run and be re-elected.

At the time, Lula had also associated Trump with episodes of violence and political intolerance. Lula said that hatred and lies are being spread not only in the United States, but in Latin America and Europe. “It’s Nazism and fascism working again with a different face,” he said.

Trump is an ally of former president Jair Bolosonaro – who has him as a role model – and counts on the enthusiastic support of the Brazilian opposition to return to power in Washington. Members of Bolsonarism think that Trump’s victory could infect voters in the country for a new confrontation with Lula, in 2026.

Demonstrations like this can cause noise between governments and countries. They are usually advised against by diplomats due to the chance of being interpreted as an attempt to intervene in the domestic affairs of another country or even because they potentially create discomfort with one of the presidential candidates. Before speaking in favor of the Democrat, Lula even said that he could not make a guess in the elections because it would be “undue interference”.

In private, parliamentarians who met behind closed doors with Lula at Palácio do Planalto, in August and September, had already reported their support for the vice-president, now out in the open. On one occasion, they attributed the phrase “God wants Kamala to win these elections” to the president. “I’m obviously rooting for Kamala to win the elections”, summed up Lula, on French TV.