Michelle Bolsonaro attacks eldest Bolsonaro-son Flávio in a video on Instagram.
On 24 June at 7 p.m. local time, Brazil played its final World Cup group match against Scotland in Miami and won easily, 3–0. Neymar even joined in the second half after recovering from an injury. Brazil finished first in the group, and everything looked set for a harmonious end to the evening. After every World Cup match, a brand of undrinkable beer awards the “Player of the Night.” For the majority of the Brazilian internet the “Player of the Night” was Michelle Bolsonaro, who, while the second half was underway, posted a 27-minute video on social media in which she launched a direct attack on the eldest son of her husband and presidential candidate, Flávio Bolsonaro.
In an unusually personal video—and one that was long by internet standards (27 minutes)—Michelle Bolsonaro, the third and current wife of former President Jair Bolsonaro, leveled serious accusations against Jair’s eldest son, Flávio Bolsonaro, accusing him of humiliating her and treating her disrespectfully due to political differences.
The actual trigger for the conflict seems minor. It concerned the election of the governor in the state of Ceará (in northeastern Brazil, with Fortaleza as its capital) and the state’s Senate candidate, both for the October 2026 elections. The Bolsonaro-party PL was divided over the candidate selection. A group led by PL politician André Fernandes wanted to form an electoral alliance with Ciro Gomes, who, although he has been an independent since late 2025, had previously been a member of center-left parties and had also been their presidential candidate. Michelle Bolsonaro opposed this alliance and favored Senator Eduardo Girão, a businessman from Ceará known for his Christian-conservative views. According to Michelle, this would also have been in line with her husband’s wishes. The second point of contention was the PL candidate for the Senate from Ceará. Michelle advocated for Priscila Costa, while the PL faction in Ceará preferred Alcides Fernandes, an evangelical pastor and the father of André Fernandes, who, at 28, is still too young to run for the Senate (the minimum age is 35).
Michelle Bolsonaro described how she learned of these decisions:
“On the way back (from political events in Ceará), something really bad happened. Something I didn’t expect. Something that hurt in a way that was hard to put into words. It felt like a stab in the back. I saw Flávio’s posts against me on social media. Harsh words, so aggressive, defending André Fernandes and, as a result, supporting an alliance with the man (Ciro Gomes) who called him, his mother, and his brothers corrupt… The (Bolsonaro) brothers came together, in a coordinated manner, with posts that were very similar to one another. It seemed orchestrated.”
Michelle Bolsonaro was not only angry about the content of the posts, but also that no one had spoken to her directly:
“I looked at my phone, checked for messages from Flávio, looked for a missed call— for any sign that he had tried to reach me before posting on social media. There was nothing. I called him—I tried a few times—but he didn’t answer. A few hours after the post, he called me back. But honestly, given what he said to me, it would have been better if he hadn’t called. He was very harsh, disrespected me, and treated me badly over the phone. And I hadn’t done anything against him. He said it would be better if I stayed out of party decisions. He said I had just arrived yesterday and didn’t understand anything about politics.”
Michelle Bolsonaro is the chairwoman of the PL’s women’s division and is very influential through this role. For Pedro Doria of Canal Meio, she is the most promising politician in the Bolsonaro family: “She’s far more skilled than any of Bolsonaro’s children and is building the most powerful female political force in Brazil within the PL. She decided to sabotage Flávio’s candidacy, and she has a massive female political base right there in front of her.” A significant portion of conservative and, above all, evangelical women see her as a role model who form a base within the PL for Michelle that Jair’s sons do not have. Michelle has more than 8 million followers on Instagram, her own beauty products, which are often sold-old, because conservative women are crazy about them.
For Michelle, the problem with the alliance with Ciro Gomes was that, in her view, he was primarily responsible “for the process that led to my husband’s ineligibility” and political isolation. She showed interview clips of Ciro Gomes in which he described Jair Bolsonaro and his sons as corrupt criminals. Regarding Jair, Gomes said that he knew him from parliament and that Jair had even stolen gasoline. The words “bandit” and “thieves” were used. The PL wanted this alliance nonetheless because it has a relatively weak presence particularly in the North and Northeast, and can hardly win on its own. Ciro Gomes is a powerful figure in Ceará and can significantly expand the PL’s voter base there. The PL and Flavio Bolsonaro wanted to take advantage of that.
Michelle did not criticize electoral alliances in general, but she did object to forming one right away for the first round. She would have preferred that a “true” right-wing candidate be fielded in the first round, and if it came down to a runoff between the PT and another candidate, then they could still support that other candidate in the second round.
Flavio Bolsonaro responded that very evening after the soccer game, from his sofa while wearing a Brazil jersey. He said, “Nobody annoys me” and “at no time did I offend Michelle or intend to offend her. If I did, I apologize. I have respect and appreciation for her work with PL Women, for taking care of my father, and for everything she represents for Brazil.” This video came across as hardly presidential—certainly filmed in a hurry and under pressure—but it’s hard to imagine Lula commenting on family intrigues from his sofa.
After Flávio Bolsonaro was nominated by his father, Jair, in
December 2025 as the Bolsonaro camp’s candidate for the 2026
presidential election, things had become rather quiet around Michelle.
She divided her time between her husband’s house arrest in Brasília and
political trips, which, however, received little media attention. The
strained relationship between her and Flávio—and even more so with the
other sons—is no secret. Neither are her political ambitions.
Nevertheless, one would not have expected such a video during the
campaign, in which Flávio is already weakened by the Banco Master scandal.
Michelle has almost taken Flavio out of the presidential race, but in
doing so has repositioned herself as an independent political force
within the Bolsonarista camp and presented herself as the purest and
most loyal version. With her, there would be no half-baked compromises,
no political games at the expense of substance and credibility.
The coming days and weeks will reveal what this means for the current
election campaign—and how Jair Bolsonaro will position himself. It’s
hard to imagine that Michelle posted the video without his knowledge or
even permission. His response will be decisive in determining how
Flavio’s campaign proceeds and what role Michelle will play in the
campaign and beyond.
