Brazil heads to the polls October 4 with a ballot featuring over 20,500 candidates — including “Plínio Trump,” a 59-year-old pilot who campaigns under the slogan “Make Brazil Great Again,” and “Samurai Taxi Driver,” a viral kung fu enthusiast running for Congress.
The South American nation’s eight-decade tradition of “joke” or “parody” candidates is alive and well in the 2026 general election, where nearly 159 million voters will cast six different ballots to elect a president, regional governors, senators, and federal congressmen.
Among the standout characters: “Mick Jagger” (no relation to the Rolling Stones singer), a woman going by “Tsunami Grandmother,” and a truck driver known as “Lonely Boy.”
Electoral laws in Brazil allow such candidates to run provided they register with a political party and meet all candidacy requirements.
“Plínio Trump” — whose real name is Plínio Vicentin Junior — is a pilot from Minas Gerais running for Congress. He drives an old vehicle adorned with American flags, emulating President Donald Trump’s mannerisms and style.
“[Trump] is likeable, iconic,” he told the Associated Press this week, explaining that when he campaigned across Juiz de Fora, “Few people sneered at me. Most people smile and hug me.”
According to Vicentin Junior, the “Trump” moniker predates his congressional run. Fellow helicopter pilots in a WhatsApp group chat told him in 2015, “You look just like Trump.”
Severino Cardoso Sobrinho, a taxi driver from Recife in his late 60s, became a viral sensation on Brazilian social media in 2021 for his karate and kung fu performances. The enthusiastic Bruce Lee fan earned the nickname “Samurai Taxi Driver” and is now using that viral fame to run for Congress.
Then there’s “Good Lula” — Dr. Célio José Morais, a city councilor from São Paulo running for Congress in the Liberal Party led by conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Morais is blatantly parodying incumbent socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — with the critical distinction that, unlike the real Lula, he is “good.” The cardiologist and Air Force Reserve lieutenant acknowledged his physical resemblance to the president but emphasized his ideals are the complete opposite of the “hell” represented by the socialist leader.
The lyrics of Morais’s campaign jingle affirm that, unlike President Lula da Silva, the “Good Lula” has ten fingers and has “never stolen from anyone.” The incumbent Brazilian president lost his left pinky finger in a workplace accident in the 1960s and has been convicted of multiple corruption charges.
“Henrique Barack Obama” is the nickname of Cláudio Henrique dos Anjos, running for Senate in Brazil’s Federal District. According to the Associated Press, individuals who know the candidate say the Brazilian “Obama” has little resemblance to the former U.S. president — his shtick is more about emulating Obama’s “posture.”
The most successful parody candidate in modern Brazilian history is Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva, a comedian and clown who goes by “Tiririca” (“Grumpy”) — a nickname his mother gave him for his ill-tempered demeanor as a child.
Tiririca originally ran for Congress in 2010 using slogans like “It can’t get any worse” and “What does a federal Congressman do? I really don’t know. Vote for me and I will find out for you.”
He won. Tiririca is currently serving as an elected São Paulo Congressman representing the centrist Social Democratic Party and is running for reelection in 2026 with more comedic antics — including a campaign ad parodying He-Man’s famous catchphrase: “I have the power!”
“Vote Tiririca. It doesn’t get any worse than this,” the ad’s subtitle reads.
Em entrevista à Jovem Pan, o candidato a deputado federal ‘Lula do Bem’ (PL) afirmou que ‘tira vantagem’ da semelhança física com o presidente do Brasil, mas que possui propostas e ideais opostos.
📺 Confira na JP News
📌 Siga o nosso perfil @jovempannews#Brasil #JovemPanNews… pic.twitter.com/DI06EtB2TW— Jovem Pan News (@JovemPanNews) September 8, 2026
