Abelardo de la Espriella, the hard-right Colombian candidate for president, says he will step up its diplomatic ties with the United States more than ever before. This pledge comes shortly after receiving a highly publicized endorsement from US President Donald Trump.

A millionaire lawyer who campaigned as a no-nonsense crime fighter has been the surprise winner in the first-round election, de la Espriella. He was able to win 43% of the votes compared to leftist senator Ivan Cepeda, who received 41%. Those two showdowns will now be in a run-off election on June 21.

The upcoming run-off is set to be against a backdrop of rising guerrilla violence from drug lords in Colombia. De la Espriella’s tough-on-crime stance has been well received by voters as right-wing leaders have emerged across Latin America in recent years.

His campaign picked up even more momentum this week after third-place conservative candidate Paloma Valencia officially endorsed him, giving him a great chance of winning the Presidency.

Trump’s Backing and Petro’s Pushback

President Trump wrote on his official account on the Truth Social platform that the Colombian election is important to the future of both countries. Citing the candidate’s achievements and personal loyalty, Trump gave the self-styled Colombian “Tiger” his complete and total endorsement.

The endorsement was immediately denounced by outgoing left-wing President Gustavo Petro as foreign interference. In a reaction to that news, Petro said that “when a country interferes in the decision of another country, freedom dies,” and encouraged Colombians to vote for themselves.

Trump and Petro have had a rocky history, with the two presidents often butting heads over migration policies and the U.S. military’s response to suspected drug boats. Though they briefly patched things up during Petro’s visit to Washington earlier this year, political tensions clearly remain.

Opposing Visions and Campaign Controversies

However, De la Espriella is running on a hardline security message, and his opponent, Ivan Cepeda, is promising to carry on with Petro’s message. Cepeda’s platform emphasizes tackling domestic inequality and engaging in diplomatic dialogue with armed groups and drug traffickers.

Though he leads in the polls, De la Espriella is also receiving a lot of domestic criticism. Last month, in a radio interview, he allegedly showed sexist behaviour, which led a Bogota judge to order him to publicly apologize within 48 hours on Tuesday.

During that broadcast, clips of which went viral, he allegedly showed a reporter an intimate photo with explicit sexual innuendo. The candidate dismissed the matter as “humour,” but the reporter felt compelled to denounce the candidate’s “total disrespect.”

A four-time father of four and close friend of evangelical leaders has been subject to numerous criticisms on the campaign trail for a string of comments that have been batted as homophobic and sexist.