The pastor stated that the senator (-RJ) took advantage of the prisoner’s moment of emotional fragility to obtain approval from his father for a presidential candidacy in 2026. The statement was made in a video [veja acima] published this Thursday (18) on its social networks.
In the recording, Malafaia harshly criticizes the way in which Flávio announced his intention to compete for Planalto. A historical ally of Bolsonaro, the pastor classifies the episode as politically irresponsible and poorly articulated.
According to him, the decision would have been taken in a private visit, without witnesses, a few days after the former president’s arrest. It also bothered him that the topic was not mentioned to the former first lady in a meeting that took place the day before.
For Malafaia, the senator acted in isolation, without consulting his own party or leaders from the political center, using directly social media to make the decision public. “This is not the inheritance of a family business. What is at stake is Brazil”, he states in the video.
The evangelical leader says that Flávio does not have the “political muscle” to lead a presidential candidacy and that the right does not win elections without alliances outside the ideological field. According to him, Bolsonaro currently has a maximum of 25% to 30% of the electorate, an insufficient percentage to win a national dispute.
Malafaia also criticizes what he calls “dumb radicalism” on the right, which, according to him, acts out of passion and not strategy. He defends agreements with the center and rejects what he classifies as “false puritanism” in politics.
The pastor points to the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), as the most viable name on the right at the moment, with Michelle Bolsonaro as a candidate for vice president. For him, Tarcísio has political influence and the capacity for dialogue outside the Bolsonarist bubble.
Malafaia claims that his criticisms are not personal. He says he voted for Flávio for the Senate and repeats the gesture, but rules out support for a presidential candidacy. “I told him: you don’t have any muscles”, he says.
As shown by SheetTarcísio is seen with more sympathy than Flávio or Michelle Bolsonaro not only by Malafaia, but also by other evangelical leaders. The announcement of the senator’s candidacy took many of these interlocutors by surprise and generated the assessment that the decision was taken without consulting the group.
Furthermore, a ticket led by Flávio has a 62% rejection rate, according to the latest Genial/Quaest survey. However, he is ahead of Tarcísio in the 1st round, but loses to Lula by 10 points in the 2nd round, according to projections.
com DIEGO ALEJANDRO, KARINA MATIAS and VICTORIA CÓCOLO
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