President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Monday (22) that the decision by US President Joe Biden to give up his bid for reelection was personal because only he knew his real conditions, but he guaranteed that relations between Brazil and the United States will continue to be “civilized”, regardless of the winner of the presidential race.
“As President Biden has decided to take a stand, my role is to root for him to [democratas] choose a candidate to run in the elections, and may the best one win, the one [em] that the American people go to vote”, said Lula in an interview with international news agencies at the Palácio da Alvorada.
“Because my role is not to choose the president of the United States, my role is to live with whoever is the president of the United States. So whether it is a Democratic candidate, Biden or Trump, our relationship will be a civilized relationship between two important countries that have a diplomatic relationship that goes back centuries and that we want to maintain. And we have important strategic partnerships with the United States, which we want to maintain,” he said.
Biden announced on Sunday afternoon (21) that he was giving up running for re-election, amid strong questions about his ability to win the race against Republican Donald Trump and serve a possible second term.
Before Biden’s announcement, Lula had defended the Democrat’s reelection on at least two occasions as the best option for democracy, and even called Trump a liar. Now, he said he hopes the US elections will be civilized.
“I hope the dispute takes place in the most civilized way possible. I hope it is not of a low level. I hope there is nothing that could put the symbol of democracy at risk,” he said.
