But what worries US officials most are Mr Bolsonaro’s efforts to question the credibility of Brazil’s voting system ahead of October’s presidential election, a contest in which polls show him behind by a wide margin. Mr Bolsonaro has also questioned the legitimacy of Mr Biden’s election victory, copying Mr Trump’s rhetoric, including as recently as this week.
“I will not discuss the sovereignty of another country. But Trump was doing really well.” he said in a local media interview on Tuesday When asked about allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 US elections, which have been repeatedly dismissed. “We don’t want that to happen in Brazil.”
Mr Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters before the meeting between the two leaders that no topic is off limits. “I expect the president to discuss open, free, fair and transparent democratic elections,” he said.
On Thursday, sitting next to Biden and speaking in Portuguese, Mr Bolsonaro addressed concerns about his country’s democratic traditions.