Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), son of former president Jair Bolsonaro and his party's candidate for president, was interviewed on Friday night (28) on Jornal Nacional, the flagship newscast of TV Globo. Anchors César Tralli and Renata Vasconcellos questioned him live from the Estúdios Globo in Rio de Janeiro, in a series with the six presidential candidates best placed in the Quaest poll of August 14. He faced questions on electronic voting, the Banco Master sponsorship of a film about his father, Jair Bolsonaro's conviction at the Supreme Court and his economic plans.
Asked about his past criticism of Brazil's electronic voting system, Flávio pledged to accept the outcome. "I want to tell all of you that I will respect the electoral process, I will respect the election results. I am running under these rules", he said. According to BBC News Brasil, the senator admitted he spoke "mistakenly" in July when he told foreign diplomats that Brazilian voting machines were made by the Venezuelan company Smartmatic, a claim the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) had already denied.
His ties to Daniel Vorcaro, the former owner of the liquidated Banco Master who is in jail on suspicion of billion-real fraud, took up a central part of the interview. Flávio said the R$ 61 million sponsorship for Dark Horse, a film about his father, was made in "good faith" and compared it to other investments by the banker. "It is the same kind of private relationship of a banker who invested R$ 160 million in a Luciano Huck show here at Globo", he said, according to CNN Brasil. Pressed to release the sponsorship contract and a spending spreadsheet, he answered that "everything has already come out in the press" and that no public money went into the film. The Federal Police is investigating whether the bank's funds were actually used in the production.
On his father's conviction for attempted coup, Flávio called the Supreme Court trial a "farce" and said Jair Bolsonaro was judged by his "enemies", naming justices Alexandre de Moraes, Flávio Dino and Cristiano Zanin, according to BBC News Brasil. "I am the only candidate who can put the institutions back in their proper place", he said, without detailing how.
Fiscal adjustment and his brother in the US
On the economy, the candidate promised a fiscal adjustment without touching pensions or the minimum wage appreciation policy. "There is no need to save money on the backs of retirees", he said, according to Folha de S.Paulo. He defended cutting ministries, political appointees and taxes. "I will run a lean government, reduce the number of ministries, cut bureaucracy, slash taxes", he said. Folha reported that he avoided questions about the level of public debt under his government.
Flávio also addressed the role of his brother, former congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, in the United States. "I think he was wrong to give thanks over the tariffs", he said, referring to Eduardo's public thank-you to Donald Trump after the 2025 tariff hike on Brazilian goods. He denied his brother influenced the American decision. "The decision was made by the American government", he said, according to CNN Brasil.
The Jornal Nacional series ends on Saturday (29) with writer Augusto Cury. Next week, Quaest releases a new presidential poll that will measure the effects of the interview week.