After being indicted on suspicion of , the former president (), children and supporters classified the investigation as a form of political persecution.
Bolsonaro relied on former allies to minimize the solidity of the investigations — both the one that led to the indictment and the one that led to the arrest of military personnel accused of planning the death of President Lula (PT).
The senator (PL-RJ) has shared videos insinuating Lula’s role behind the investigations. In one of them, seen more than 100 thousand times on X (formerly Twitter), he published excerpts from an interview in which the current president says that his opponent “has no chance of returning to the Presidency of the Republic”.
Eduardo and also questioned the investigations, as well as former minister Walter Braga Netto, also indicted, the governor of São Paulo, (), the former vice president and now senator (Republicanos-RS) and the leader of the opposition in the Senate and general secretary of the PL, Rogério Marinho (RN).
See what has been said by Bolsonaro and his supporters so far:
‘PF de Moraes’
The minister of the (Supreme Federal Court) The former president accused the magistrate of doing “everything that the law does not say”. “That’s where the fight begins. I can’t expect anything from a team that uses its creativity to denounce me,” he said.
On Saturday (23), the former president said that the preventive arrest of the four officers suspected of plotting the death of authorities, referring to Moraes as a dictator.
“This coup story is absurd. Are you going to carry out a coup with a retired general and four senior officers? For the love of God. Who was coordinating this? Where are the troops? Where are the Armed Forces? Wow, for the love of God. No keep putting a horn on a horse’s head.”
Federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP), on social media, referred to the police as “PF de Moraes”.
‘Imaginative tense’
The former Minister of Defense and candidate for vice on Bolsonaro’s ticket, General Braga Netto, shared that there was an inference and assumption outside the context of the legal investigation.
“It was never a coup, much less a plan to assassinate someone. Now part of the press comes up with this fanciful and absurd thesis of a ‘coup within a coup’. Let there be creativity…”, he wrote on Saturday (23).
The mentions of “creativity” are a reference to a dialogue between Moraes’ advisors published by Sheet in August.
Instructor judge Airton Vieira told Eduardo Tagliaferro, Moraes’ subordinate at the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), to use “his creativity” to prepare a report on publications for Oeste magazine, in 2022.
Political persecution
Eduardo, Carlos and Flávio Bolsonaro published several posts refuting news about the investigation. In a video, Eduardo associates Bolsonaro with Donald Trump, saying that, just as the former US president was elected this year, his father, who is ineligible, will return to power in 2026.
“As Bolsonaro is very strong, they have to defeat Bolsonaro in the courts to not allow him to politically run for office in 2026,” he wrote.
Rio de Janeiro councilor Carlos Bolsonaro (PL) called the investigation crazy.
“Until now, I have not understood how a coup can be expected by signing a proposal that depends on a legal basis, council approval and congressional appreciation, which, as far as everyone knows, has not even shown its preparation,” he said.
In an article published online, Flávio Bolsonaro said there was persecution against his father, who would be the only one capable of defeating Lula.
Narrative without evidence
Governor Tarcísio de Freitas stated that Bolsonaro is the target of a narrative that “lacks evidence”.
He said it was “necessary to be very responsible about serious accusations like this”, but did not indicate where the alleged flaws in the investigation were. The governor also said that Bolsonaro “respected the result of the election”, which did not happen.
‘Mere conclusions’
The leader of the opposition in the Senate, Rogério Marinho, stated on behalf of the party that the indictment of Bolsonaro and the party’s president, Valdemar Costa Neto, was “expected”.
Marinho said he hopes that the PGR “can fulfill its institutional mission with serenity, independence and impartiality”, observing concrete evidence and not “mere conclusions”.
“We trust that the reestablishment of the truth will end the long sequence of political narratives devoid of factual support, with the reestablishment of institutional normality and the strengthening of our democracy.”
‘Headless’
Senator Hamilton Mourão (Republicanos-RS), Bolsonaro’s former deputy, called the plan to kill authorities revealed by the PF a . For him, only with broad support from the Armed Forces would there be an attempted coup.
“We have a small group of military personnel, most of them reserve military personnel, who in theory put together a plan without any reason. I can’t even imagine it as an attempted coup. It’s important that people understand that an attempted coup has to be the expressive support of the Armed Forces”, he said.
