No, Brazilian Model Didn’t Call Rahul Gandhi ‘Failed Politician’, Claim Is False

Nery, a Brazilian hairdresser, did not refer to Gandhi in any way in her video.

A video of a Brazilian hairdresser Larissa Nery is being shared to falsely claim that she called Rahul Gandhi a 'failed politician' after her photo was used in Congress' 'Vote Chori' press conference.

(Source: X/Altered by The Quint)

A video of a woman, recording a video while speaking in Portuguese, is being widely shared on social media.

Why is it being shared?: During a press conference on 5 November, Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi made several allegations of voter fraud, or 'Vote Chori' in Haryana.

• He also highlighted one instance where a single photo of a 'Brazilian model' was allegedly used for 22 women who cast their votes in different constituencies.

What is the claim?: The video of the woman now identified as Larissa Nery, is being shared to claim that she ridiculed Gandhi over her photo being used in the presser.

• Some of those sharing the video have claimed she said, "There’s this failed politician that lost nearly 100 elections in India, using my old pics to amplify his lies and propaganda against the ruling party. His party members are so obsessed with me and proposing to me in DMs. (sic)."

An archived version of this post can be seen here.

(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

(Archives of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here and here.)

But...?: The claim is false, as it does not accurately translate Nery's statement in the video.

• We found no evidence of her referring to Gandhi as a failed politician or mentioning the Congress party.

How do we know?: We ran a keyword search using the term 'Brazilian model Rahul Gandhi', which led us to multiple relevant news reports.

• One such article by NDTV, identified the woman as Larissa Nery, stating that she is a hairdresser and not a model, as Gandhi claimed.

• Nery told NDTV that she had never been to India and was rarely active in political spaces, "even in Brazil."

The report carried a translation of her statement.

(Source: NDTV/Screenshot)

• It carried a translation of Nery's statement in the video, which mentioned her telling people about the photo being old, and that she was portrayed as an Indian "to scam people."

• She went on to talk about how people were consistently trying to contact her through calls and Instagram, and how she had refused to give an interview then.

• More news reports by The Times of India and Hindustan Times carry the same translation of Nery's video.

No mention of Gandhi: We ran the video through a free transcription tool, which noted Nery's statement down in Portuguese.

When we ran it through Google Translate, the translation matched the versions in the news reports. The full translation can be read here"

"Guys, I'm going to tell you some gossip, you're going to laugh so hard. No, yeah, I'm going to tell you the gossip. Guys, they're using an old photo of me. My photo is old, okay? Look, I was very young in the photo, I must have been around 20 or 18 years old. They're using my photo to... I don't know if it's an election, something that requires voting. And... in India! They're using me as an Indian woman to scam other people, folks. Look at this madness! What kind of craziness is this? What world am I living in? Then a reporter called me, wanting to know about this thing. He called the salon where I work, wanting to talk to me for an interview, but I didn't answer. I told [unclear] not to give out my number and stuff. The guy found my Instagram and messaged me on Instagram. Now, someone else who has nothing to do with this, a friend of mine from another city, sent me a photo. I'll put it here for you guys, down here so you can see it. Here. You won't believe it. Oh, guys..."

Conclusion: A video of a Brazilian hairdresser is being shared to falsely claim that she called Rahul Gandhi a "failed politician."

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