US President Donald Trump on Monday appeared to mistake Brazil for India while commenting on the South American country’s presidential election, claiming that 125 million people had voted in the “first round” of India’s presidential election.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “125 Million People voted today in the first round of India’s Presidential Election. Trump’s post came a day after Brazil held the first round of its presidential election on Sunday, October 4. About 125 million Brazilians did cast ballots in the election, making the number cited by Trump broadly consistent with Brazil’s turnout, not an Indian election. Droupadi Murmu, India’s current President, was elected in 2022 and took office on July 25 that year.
The next presidential election is therefore not being held on October 5, 2026. “Voting in America is CORRUPT!!! Brazil’s election has produced a closely fought runoff between incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. India does not elect its president through a nationwide popular vote. The president is elected by an Electoral College comprising elected members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states, as well as Delhi and Puducherry. The election uses proportional representation through the single transferable vote and a secret ballot.
He then contrasted the supposed Indian election with voting in the US, claiming that results in cities such as Detroit and Philadelphia could take weeks to “calculate”. Trump wrote at the end of the post, signing off as “President DJT”.
Under India’s constitutional system, a president serves a five-year term, with the election to fill the office held before the incumbent’s term expires.
