When President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva meet in Washington Friday, the leaders will share some awareness of what it’s like to walk in one another's shoes.
Biden, a centrist Democrat, defeated incumbent Donald Trump in a fraught race, securing victory with thin margins in several battleground states.
In Brazil’s tightest election since its return to democracy over three decades ago, Lula, the leftist leader of the Workers’ Party, squeaked out a win against right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, who earned the nickname “Trump of the Tropics” and was an outspoken admirer of the former U.S. president, AP writes.
Both Trump and Bolsonaro sowed doubts about the vote, without ever presenting evidence, but their claims nevertheless resonated with their most die-hard supporters.
In the U.S. Capitol, Trump supporters staged the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection seeking to prevent Biden’s win from being certified. Last month, thousands of rioters stormed the Brazilian capital aiming to oust the newly-inaugurated Lula.
© Copyright LaPresse