Nasralla Says Trump Endorsement Hurt His Presidential Bid as Honduran Vote Tightens

Honduran Candidate Alleges U.S. Endorsement Undermined His Lead

Honduran presidential hopeful Salvador Nasralla told Reuters that President Donald Trump’s public backing of his rival, conservative candidate Nasry Asfura, damaged his chances as vote tallies tightened.

"It hurt me because I was winning by a much larger margin," Nasralla said, describing a narrow reversal in the official count. The National Electoral Council’s published results on Nov. 30 showed Nasralla with 39% and Asfura with 40% of the vote.

Nasralla’s campaign reported a brief outage of the electoral results website early Thursday morning, and said his narrow lead "had flipped" after service was restored. "That suggests some algorithm changed that shouldn't have," he told Reuters, while acknowledging he has no direct proof of manipulation.

Trump’s Public Comments and Pardon Draw Fire

On Truth Social, Trump warned that if Asfura lost, "there will be hell to pay!" and accused Honduran authorities of trying to alter the presidential results. Trump has also criticized Nasralla during the campaign, once labeling him a "borderline communist."

Trump (Truth Social): "If Asfura loses the election, there will be hell to pay!"

Nasralla additionally condemned Trump’s recent pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. Hernández was released after being sentenced in July 2024 to 45 years in prison, convicted of collaborating with drug traffickers seeking to ship cocaine to the United States, The Associated Press reported.

Hernández (X): "I was set up by the Biden Harris administration and the deep state through a rigged trial... Yet the truth of my innocence prevailed."

After his release, Hernández thanked Trump and maintained his innocence. The pardon drew sharp criticism in the U.S., including from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who called the clemency "egregious, shameful, and dangerous," noting Hernández’s conviction in a case involving roughly 400 tons of cocaine.

Political Fallout and Concerns

The dispute highlights international tensions surrounding U.S. involvement and influence in Latin American elections, and underscores concerns from Nasralla’s camp about the transparency of the vote count. Nasralla urged Honduran institutions to investigate irregularities and stressed the need for an impartial judicial process in the Hernández case.

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