“Lulista media” narratives influenced Bolsonaro’s defeat in 2022, says Flávio

The narratives created by the Lula media would have been responsible for the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the 2022 presidential election in the view of Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), son of the former president and elected senator. According to him, the dispute also had “different treatment” by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) between his father’s campaign and that of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

The statements were given in an interview with the newspaper Folha de São Paulo published this Monday (20), in which Flávio explains that the communication of his father’s campaign turned out to be insufficient to explain the narratives created by the opponent’s supporters.

“I think the narratives were created against him by the Lula media. And our communication was insufficient. So one version was stronger than the other. I think our communication could have been better. There were people who thought that the R$ 600 from the Auxílio Brasil was what Lula was still giving”, he said.

Flávio sees that Bolsonaro’s campaign was censored by the TSE for “speaking the truth about Lula, like his relationship with dictatorships”. Recently, the president downplayed the serious violations of human rights committed by Nicaragua’s dictator Daniel Ortega, with Brazilian diplomacy not signing the joint declaration agreed upon by 55 countries against the government’s acts.

For the senator, the Lula government still hasn’t shown what it came to and knows that Bolsonaro has an opposition leader – even far away, still traveling in the United States. “For me, Bolsonaro is the leader of the opposition. Today there is no one with his electoral density, on the center-right side. I don’t see a vacuum here, not least because Lula and the press talk about him every day,” he said.

“For me, he has to go back to basics
[eleitorais], and help in the organization of municipal elections, which are important for a possible step in 2026 of candidacy for the Presidency. So he has to dedicate himself more and more to politics”, believes Flávio, already predicting his father’s return for the next presidential election, but without mentioning when he should return to Brazil.

Still according to the senator, there is a fear that an attack will be committed against the father “once again”, since now he has a reduced security team. Flávio ruled out any possibility of arrest or ineligibility against his father, “there is no reason for that”.

“There is a huge portion of the population that is watching [o processo]then certainly, if you get to that point [inelegibilidade], Bolsonaro would be the greatest electoral force in the history of Brazil. I think with much more force even than his name being put. Because Brazilians have this ability to show solidarity with those who have suffered injustice”, he says.

Michelle’s Political Future

On the other hand, Flávio sees in Michelle a “great potential” to be elected to any position he wants to run for, but not the presidency, as has been speculated.

“Now, about her future in politics, she is the one who will be able to say. I think she has great potential. But so, in my mind, the candidate for president is Jair Bolsonaro. Michelle, on the other hand, has a great chance of being elected to the position she is applying for. It has to be seen if she will want it, ”she says.

The assessment is the same in relation to Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicanos-SP), former minister in the Bolsonaro government and current governor of the state of São Paulo. For Flávio, he is a “phenomenal cadre, he chooses whatever he wants to run for”.

However, “this chance is zero” of running in the next presidential election against Bolsonaro. “[Ele é leal] 100%,” he added.