Temer says that Vorcaro is a 'sweet figure' and makes a mea culpa about the release of bets in his government

"It's one thing to be the soft figure and another thing is the attitudes," said the former president, after being asked about Vorcaro's description.

"I think he obviously exaggerated," he said in an interview with Frente a Frente, a program on Folha de S.Paulo and UOL.

Temer's law firm was hired to work for Banco Master before the crisis involving the institution worsened. According to the former president, his role was to attempt a composition with financial market agents, including a possible "private liquidation" of the bank, and not a public liquidation by the Central Bank.

The former president said he sought out market representatives to evaluate the possibility, but stated that he heard that the exit would be "impossible" without a decision from the Central Bank. "I couldn't do it, I wasn't successful in this activity, I moved away from the case. My hiring was for that purpose," he said.

Temer stated that the bank did not pay the entire agreed amount. According to Revenue data sent to the Organized Crime CPI, Master reported the payment of R$10 million to Temer's office in 2025.

At another point in the interview, the former president commented on the release of sports betting in Brazil, which occurred during his government.

“I don’t applaud my action,” he said. "If you ask me, as you asked me, do I regret it, I don't say I regret it, because I know that the regulation would come later, but I cannot applaud that act."

Temer said that the authorization of bets was seen, at that time, as an alternative to pressure for the release of casinos. According to him, there was "a very big attempt" to establish casinos in the country, but there was also strong resistance to the measure. "A lesser evil. That's what led me to sign at that time."

The former president defended "strict regulation" and "very special supervision" for the sector. He also said he sees room for restrictions on certain groups, such as Bolsa Família beneficiaries.

In the interview, Temer also spoke about his relationship with President Lula (PT) and with former president Dilma Rousseff (PT), for whom he was vice-president. He said he did not talk to Lula after the PT member returned to power. According to the former president, the two only had a brief conversation during the campaign, at Alexandre de Moraes' inauguration at the TSE (Superior Electoral Court).

"After he was elected, he didn't talk to me and neither would I, naturally, delicately or impolitely, look for him," said Temer.

He also stated that he understands that Lula uses the term "coup" to please a part of the PT. Regarding Dilma, he said that he has not spoken to the former president since the impeachment. "Or rather, she never spoke to me again."

Temer assumed the Presidency of the Republic in 2016, after Dilma's impeachment, and governed the country until 2018.

The former president also commented on his relationship with Joesley Batista, a businessman who recorded him in 2017 and accused him, in a collaboration agreement, of trying to buy the silence of former federal deputy Eduardo Cunha, then imprisoned in Curitiba.

The former president stated that he would only accept a new meeting if there was a "public retraction" and joked that the conversation would have to take place in the "sauna" to avoid a new recording.

The emedebista also stated that there was an "attempted coup" in the events of January 8, but said he did not know how to evaluate Jair Bolsonaro's (PL) participation. "There was a desire, without a doubt, because the invasion did not go to the buildings, it went to the buildings that housed the Powers", he said.

Last month he launched the document "Road to the Future", with one hundred pages of suggestions for presidential candidates prepared by experts in economics, agribusiness, education, security and health. The text proposes, among other measures, the infiltration of police into criminal organizations and the creation of full-time teaching positions in primary and secondary education.

He stated that pre-candidates Ronaldo Caiado (PSD) and Romeu Zema (Novo) thanked him for sending the piece.

Frente a Frente is a partnership between UOL and Folha and focuses on the 2026 elections. This Monday's interview was conducted by Daniela Lima, columnist at UOL, and Fernando Canzian, special reporter at Folha.

Among others, Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the PL, Guilherme Boulos (PSOL), minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency and Fernando Haddad (PT), former Minister of Finance, have already been interviewed on the program.

Face to FaceWhere: UOL YouTube and UOL ChannelWhen: Mondays, at 7pm