Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, identified as the principal opposition candidate in Brazil's presidential race, stated publicly that he will respect the outcome of the vote scheduled for October and that he is pursuing election under the current rules. The declaration was made during an interview on TV Globo's Jornal Nacional, Brazil's most-watched nightly newscast.
In the televised exchange, the senator said explicitly: "I will respect the electoral process; I will respect the results." The comment was framed as an assurance to viewers regarding his acceptance of the formal outcome of the country’s ballot.
Flavio Bolsonaro is the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. The former president is serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted for attempting to overturn his 2022 election defeat to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. That conviction was handed down by a panel of Brazil's Supreme Court last September, finding that the former president had plotted to remain in power following the 2022 vote.
For several years prior to those events, Jair Bolsonaro fostered doubts about the reliability of Brazil's electronic voting machines. Those suspicions were part of the broader political context surrounding the 2022 election and the subsequent legal proceedings.
During the same interview, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro addressed the violent events of January 2023 in Brasilia, when supporters of his father stormed and damaged the presidential palace, the Supreme Court and Congress. He said that if he is elected, he intends to grant amnesty to individuals who were convicted in connection with that riot.
On trade matters, the senator took pains to distance himself from a recent U.S. government decision that imposed tariffs on Brazilian goods in July, a measure described at the time as a response to alleged unfair trade practices. The interview noted that a previous round of levies had been imposed by the Trump administration last year amid claims from Washington that prosecutions of Jair Bolsonaro represented a "witch hunt" during his trial; those earlier tariffs were later removed.
The senator’s statements covered both his commitment to accept the formal electoral result and his policy stances on legal accountability for the January 2023 events and on international trade tensions. His positions touch on judicial outcomes, domestic political reconciliation and external economic relations as the campaign progresses toward the October vote.