The actions made publicly by the former first lady against mobilized allies of the presidential pre-candidate to try to contain damage to the campaign, which is betting on the announcement of a female vice-president to curb female voters.
The release of videos by Michelle on Wednesday afternoon (24), in which she says she was disrespected and humiliated by Flávio after (PSDB) in Ceará, caught the senator’s allies by surprise and provoked attempts at explanations in the following hours.
Flávio’s pre-campaign admits to having been scared by Michelle’s publications at first, but later said it was necessary to wait to assess the impacts. Some of the senator’s allies say they believe that the videos could also be bad for the former first lady, in the face of a Bolsonarist electorate that defends unity against (PT).
Despite the difficulty faced by Flávio in surveys with female voters, the PL’s thesis is that it is unlikely that Michelle’s supporters will stop voting for Bolsonaro’s son because of the fight. Even if there is a migration to other candidates in the first round, these allies say, the assessment is that these votes tend to return in a possible second round.
After trying to minimize the criticism and saying, on the eve of Brazil’s World Cup match, that “today, game day, nothing at all”, Flávio returned to social media hours later and said that, “if I did it at any point, once again, I apologize”.
The former first lady, in turn, later said she had not and that she sought to clarify “a situation that was being misrepresented” with the videos. He stated that “a new history will be written with truth, clarity and respect”. “Let’s work together to defeat the current misgovernment. There is no fighting, no competition.”
Even before Michelle’s statements, Flávio had already decided to nominate a woman to be his candidate for vice president. The , but should be announced in the next two weeks, according to allies.
Among those listed are federal deputies Julia Zanatta (PL-SC), currently a candidate for re-election, and Bia Kicis (PL-DF), pre-candidate for the Senate. The name of former Caixa president Daniella Marques (Republicans), has also been remembered by allies given what they see as a lack of options.
Federal deputy Simone Marquetto (PP-SP) remains on the pre-campaign radar, but members of the federation formed by the PP and União Brasil say that Michelle’s criticism reinforced the assessment that with Flávio.
According to Michelle’s allies, she decided, because she was tired of what she described as a series of coordinated attacks and false information, which would affect not only her, but also her youngest daughter, Laura, who is a teenager.
Michelle’s brother, pre-candidate for district deputy Eduardo Torres (PL) published a text on social media in which he says that she said “very little in light of everything that has happened” and that she has already witnessed it and even needed to intervene.
“There are criticisms, charges, accusations, insults and injustices. The response for a long time was silence. Attacked by many even for her silence, she could no longer bear such injustice and decided to make some clarifications”, she stated.
In the videos released on Wednesday, Michelle claims that Flávio disrespected her, humiliated her, said she didn’t understand anything about politics and implied that he didn’t want her to participate in his presidential campaign.
“He was very harsh, disrespected me and mistreated me on the phone. And I hadn’t done anything against him. He said it would be better for me to stay out of the party’s decisions. He said I had arrived yesterday and didn’t understand anything about politics”, he declared.
In response, Flávio published a text of him and his wife and recorded a video in which he denies having humiliated his stepmother. “I have been married for 16 years, father of two wonderful daughters and I have never disrespected, mistreated or humiliated a woman in my life. I would never do it to my own father’s wife,” he said.
Fernanda Bolsonaro, in turn, wrote on social media that what she sees every day, as Flávio’s wife, is “a light, respectful, affectionate, restored man and a dedicated father.”
While part of the PL assesses that Flávio could have disarmed this bomb earlier, avoiding a public fight, people closest to the senator claim that he has been trying to speak to Michelle for months, without success.
They even say that he called his stepmother and left a message on Wednesday morning — that is, hours before the video — to invite her to a meeting with female leaders next week, but that she did not respond.
“With an open heart, I want to reinforce the invitation I had already made to Michelle. My heart remains open, Michelle. I need everyone with me. Can I count on you?”, said Flávio in a video released this Thursday (25).
To try to improve traffic with female voters, Flávio will hold a working meeting with allies next week. The pre-candidate wants to hear suggestions that can integrate his government plan and demonstrate proximity to important leaders, such as Bia and Senator Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF).
Raphael Di Cunto, from Brasília, collaborated
