Flávio Bolsonaro says he will accept the results of the polls and that TSE is different from 2022

The statement was made during Band News' Canal Livre program. After a block of questions about Flávio's recent speech regarding the polls in a meeting with ambassadors and diplomats, the senator was asked if he formally declared that he would accept the result.

"I will accept, I will compete with these rules. And I am sure that the TSE, unlike the one in 2022, will be an impartial TSE and will take all measures to ensure that this election takes place with more security and more transparency."

The senator added that the court would be most interested in the elections taking place normally, but that it did not seem like this was the situation in the last presidential election, complaining about the R$22 million fine imposed by the then president of the TSE, Alexandre de Moraes, against the PL.

In 2026, the minister Kassio Nunes Marques, as president, and André Mendonça, as vice-president, are at the head of the TSE, both were nominated to the STF (Supreme Federal Court) by Jair Bolsonaro during his administration.

Throughout the pre-campaign, Flávio has already complained about Moraes several times. In July, he stated that the ban on his visits to his father, for example, is an attempt by the minister to interfere in this year's elections.

Flávio has appeared at a disadvantage in relation to Lula (PT) in the main voting intention polls. The latest round of Datafolha, released on July 24, showed the president with 48% of voting intentions in the second round against 43% for Flávio. In the first round, the PT member scored 40%, compared to 32%.

The topic of accepting the election results returned to the agenda following an episode that occurred on the 21st, in which Flávio, like his father, spread false information about electronic voting machines.

On the occasion, the senator told ambassadors and diplomats that Brazilian electronic voting machines have the same origin as voting machines from the Venezuelan company Smartmatic, which is false, and cited a CIA report about the company. He also asked those present to send as many foreign observers as possible to the 2026 election.

The Electoral Court had already declared, in a 2020 note in response to rumors, that the Venezuelan company never sold voting machines or software used in voting machines to Brazil, despite having provided other services, such as training people to provide technical and operational support for the voting machines.

This Sunday, Flávio partially retracted his statement, declaring that he was wrong to say that such a company supplied the ballot boxes, but highlighted that it still participated in the process. In this context, he even recommended that the public access the company's website and reiterated the slogan of "more security and transparency" for the elections.

"I'm just demanding that the TSE impose more layers of security, transparency. I'm not speaking against the polls", he also said that this issue is treated as prohibited and that this would be a sign that Brazil is not a full democracy.

When asked if he doubted the votes he received in 2022, he said no. “I had those votes,” he replied.

Flávio also said, more than once, that his candidacy is a protest and also repeated criticism of his father's judgment.

He also stated that if elected, he intends to approve an amnesty during the government transition.

In the 2022 dispute, in which Jair Bolsonaro was defeated, the period after the second round was marked by coup-style protests that culminated on January 8th. Despite this, the then president did not make any speech in which he clearly acknowledged his defeat in public, nor did he tell his supporters who were protesting against the result to go home and accept defeat.

On the contrary, he adopted behavior that served as fuel for the demonstrations. In recent years, while responding to a lawsuit for an attempted coup, the former president sought to reinterpret his stance in the final stretch of his government, seeking to create the image that the transition of government would have taken place in a scenario of normality.

This line of speech was also adopted by Flávio during this Sunday's interview, the senator said that the transition occurred peacefully and on several occasions called his father's trial a farce.

Renan Santos targets attacks on Flávio at a Missão event and defends 'killing anyone who steals'

The presidential candidate adopted insults with a radical right-wing speech, saying that "we will kill whoever steals". He said it was not a third way, called Flávio a "phony, weak and corrupt", mentioned "rats who dress in green and yellow" and referred to Lula as "cursed".