Democratic gains in US midterms celebrated by Lula allies, while Nikolas criticizes Janja - Politics and regulation

Brazilian allies of President Lula linked the Democrats’ midterm performance to his recent reelection. Bolsonaro supporters largely stayed silent or challenged the left’s celebrations, including lawmaker Nikolas Ferreira, who criticized First Lady Janja over a social media post.

Brazilian politicians and supporters of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva celebrated the Democratic Party’s gains in the US midterm elections, held on Tuesday. Some linked the result to Lula’s reelection in late October and argued that the Brazilian vote had wider significance for the left. Most prominent supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro had not commented by Wednesday; those who did either criticized the celebrations or questioned how much the Republicans had lost.

With votes still being counted, Democrats had won 228 of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives, compared with 139 for Republicans, and secured at least 54 of the Senate’s 100 seats. Donald Trump told The New York Times he was willing to accept the result and work with the opposition.

Federal lawmaker Erika Hilton of the Socialism and Liberty Party described the Democratic result in a post on X as an important victory and a major setback for Trumpism. She argued that the outcome was better for people in Brazil, the United States and elsewhere, and invoked Lula’s words about the left’s struggle for a “spring.” Her post had received more than 30,000 likes.

André Janones, a federal deputy from the Sustainability Network, also connected the result to Lula’s reelection. He wrote that Lula’s victory was inspiring people around the world and shared a photo of Trump with the hashtag “#TheBolsonarosEffect.” First Lady Janja joined the celebrations with an Instagram Stories image showing the Statue of Liberty embracing Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer, with both figures making the “L” gesture associated with Lula’s campaign.

That image drew a response from federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira, a Bolsonaro ally. He reposted it on X and wrote that Janja’s lack of awareness continued to surprise him. The post had reached 510,000 views.

Among Bolsonaro supporters who addressed the election, Paulo Figueiredo focused on Florida, where Republicans won the Senate contest and most of the state’s House seats, although some races were close. Figueiredo said the state remained Republican and that seats important to what he called the “Brazilian cause” had been preserved. Trump won Florida by more than 13 percentage points in 2024.

Former federal deputy Carla Zambelli took a different approach, sharing a video by Ivan Kleber Fonseca, a London correspondent for Revista Oeste. She urged left-wing supporters not to celebrate too soon, arguing that Flávio Bolsonaro and Eduardo Bolsonaro would not be extradited. Zambelli also said that the US president’s party has historically lost seats in midterm elections, citing three exceptions: Franklin Roosevelt in 1934, Bill Clinton in 1998 and George W. Bush in 2002.

Other prominent Bolsonaro supporters did not mention the US vote in their posts on Wednesday. Gustavo Gayer and Bia Kicis promoted Rogério Marinho’s bid to lead Brazil’s Senate, while Carlos Bolsonaro shared images from a meeting with senators and a video about visiting his father, Jair Bolsonaro.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, who lives in the United States, also did not comment on the result. He said on Instagram that he had taken part in a podcast’s election-night coverage. The article reports that he had previously appeared on the program with Nikolas Ferreira, Gayer and Figueiredo.

Sources: Folha Poder.