Former President Jair Bolsonaro has endorsed his eldest son’s campaign to be Brazil’s next president in the 2026 race.
Published On 10 Dec 2025
Far-right Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has reaffirmed his commitment to running in Brazil’s 2026 presidential race, despite criticism that he appeared to be openly haggling over whether to remain a candidate.
On Tuesday, Bolsonaro met with reporters outside federal police headquarters in the capital Brasilia, where his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting to foment a coup.
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The younger Bolsonaro said he conveyed to his father that he would not shrink from the 2026 race.
“I told him this candidacy is irreversible,” Flavio said. “And in his own words, ‘We will not turn back.’ Now it is time to talk to people, so we can have the right people on our side.”
The senator also attempted to clear up the comments that sparked the initial controversy.
On Sunday, Flavio raised eyebrows when he told Brazilian media that he could exit the race — for the right “price”.
“There’s a possibility I won’t go all the way,” Flavio said at the time. “I have a price for that. I will negotiate.”
He declined to name what that price would be, but his comments were widely interpreted to be a reference to his father’s imprisonment.
In September, a panel on Brazil’s Supreme Court convicted Jair of five charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2022 presidential election, including one count of seeking the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law.
Jair lost the 2022 race to current Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula