Right‑wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro garners overseas backing yet lags in polls ahead of a showdown with President Lula.
Published On 26 Jul 2026
Flavio Bolsonaro kicked off his official Brazilian presidential campaign on Saturday, highlighting endorsements from Argentine President Javier Milei and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, long viewed as the standard‑bearer of Brazil’s right, launched his formal challenge to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“This is more than a party gathering,” Bolsonaro told members of his father’s Liberal Party. “It marks the start of the toughest battle of our lives—a clash between good and evil.”
Recent surveys show Bolsonaro trailing Lula, as his campaign struggles to recover from a series of setbacks and scandals.
Although the event featured praise from Milei and Netanyahu, attendance by notable Brazilian politicians was sparse.
Centre‑right parties have largely kept their distance, and Flavio’s father—currently serving a 27‑year sentence for a coup attempt after his 2022 defeat to Lula—appeared only via an AI‑generated video.
Milei delivered a fiery speech condemning Lula and asserting that Bolsonaro could “save” Brazil from socialism.
The Argentine president arrived in Brazil the night before the rally and met Saturday with São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas.
“We will continue to speak out everywhere against the falsehoods of socialism,” Milei added.
Netanyahu conveyed his support through a brief video message.
“Flavio, my friend, I congratulate you on the official launch of your campaign,” Netanyahu said in the recording, as reported by the Brazilian outlet Metropoles. “You are a great champion of Brazil and of the friendship between our nations.”
Lula’s Workers’ Party will convene on August 2 to formalize the 80‑year‑old president’s re‑election bid.
Bolsonaro and his allies have also faced criticism for attempting to leverage connections with the Trump administration to boost his campaign, a move many Brazilians view as unwarranted foreign interference.
Like his father, Flavio has repeatedly questioned the integrity of Brazil’s electoral system, a claim critics say lays the groundwork for challenging the legitimacy of any future loss to Lula.
The AFP reported on Saturday that Brazil refused entry to two Trump administration officials who wanted to discuss “freedom of expression relating to the elections” with national election authorities.
