Brazil towel sales emerge to mock mistrust of polls

By DIANE JEANTET and DAVID BILLER
Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — As keen supporters of Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro claim polls signaling he will lose his reelection bid can’t be trusted, an unlikely proxy has emerged: towel sales. Some street vendors have begun cashing in on skepticism of pollsters ahead of October elections, using scoreboards to track sales of towels bearing the faces of several candidates. The boards have become a social media sensation in recent days. President Jair Bolsonaro has cast doubt on the polls’ reliability. He mocked a Datafolha poll last year that indicated his nemesis Luiz Inácio da Silva would get nearly 60% of the votes in a runoff against him.