When Plínio Vicentin Júnior took to the streets to campaign for a seat in Brazil’s Congress, he made like U.S. President Donald Trump.
He combed his hair like Trump’s. Glowered like Trump. Prophesied in media interviews that his gimmick would pay off — because people, he said, like the U.S. president. He even registered for the election under the surname “Trump.”
Vote for “Plínio Trump,” he asked residents in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.
Few did.
During this month’s Brazilian elections, the Trump look-alike netted just 161 votes. Among congressional candidates in the state of Minas Gerais, electoral results show, he came in 626th place out of 710 hopefuls.
It might have been the wrong Brazilian election to try to imitate a U.S. president — particularly Trump.
After the Trump administration imposed a 50 percent tariff on many Brazilian goods last year, the public image of the United States in Brazil plummeted.
But Plínio Trump only doubled down on his electoral strategy, in perhaps another nod to the U.S. leader.
“It’s very advantageous to look like Trump,” he told the Minas Gerais newspaper O Tempo. “He’s an international reference point on the right.”
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The post He said looking like Trump would get him elected. He got 161 votes. appeared first on Washington Post.
