- Trump cites "India's Presidential Election" to call US voting "corrupt"
- India held no election; the figures matched Brazil's vote
- Indians don't directly elect their president
- Trump once called Spain a BRICS country
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump cited a presidential election in India that never took place to claim that voting in America is "corrupt," in what appeared to be a mix-up with Brazil, a country on almost the opposite side of the globe.
In a Truth Social post Sunday, Trump praised the speed of the count, comparing it with the weeks it can take to tally votes in some US cities and states.
"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 said.
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"In Detroit, Philadelphia, California, and numerous other US Cities and States, the results, with much smaller numbers, will often take weeks to Rig, I mean, calculate. Voting in America is CORRUPT."
Brazil, not India
The details in Trump's post matched Brazil's presidential election almost exactly. Brazil held its first round of voting Sunday, and the country's electoral authority recorded 125.27 million valid votes. Results were released from 5 p.m., when polls closed, and updated as ballots were counted.
Incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva faced Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Neither secured a majority, so a runoff will be held October 25.
India held no election of any kind Sunday. President Droupadi Murmu has been in office since July 2022.
The two countries are about as far apart as it gets. India's precise antipode, the point directly opposite it on the globe, lies closer to Brazil's neighbor Chile.
A busy few weeks for India and Brazil
The two nations have crossed paths recently. Brazil attended a summit of the BRICS grouping in New Delhi last month, and the two countries played each other in a FIFA international friendly in Kolkata on Saturday.
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Neither event explains the mix-up. Trump has also handed out the sport's biggest prize this year, presenting the World Cup trophy in New Jersey in July after the US co-hosted the tournament. Spain won, with captain Rodri lifting the trophy. In January last year, Trump wrongly referred to Spain as a BRICS country.
How India actually chooses its president
Indians do not vote directly for their president. The president is chosen by an electoral college made up of elected members of both houses of Parliament and of the state and union territory legislative assemblies, using proportional representation by single transferable vote.
In general elections, Indian voters directly elect members of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, and of state legislative assemblies. The president then appoints the prime minister, usually the leader of the party or coalition with a majority in the Lok Sabha. State governors appoint chief ministers in the same way.
India had nearly 980 million registered voters in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Not the first time
Trump has previously pointed to India's elections, particularly its voter identification system, to push for changes to US voting rules.
On August 17, he said India's Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had asked officials in his administration how the US could hold elections without valid photo identification.
He made the remarks to build support for the SAVE America Act, which would require Americans to show proof of citizenship to register to vote, introduce a nationwide voter ID requirement and limit voting by mail.
"India's last Election had 646,000,000 Voters! Less than one per cent voted by mail, and every single Voter had to have a VALID Photo Identity Document... We need to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, now," he said at the time.
(With inputs from PTI)
