Campaign launch on Independence Day
Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, launched his own digital television channel on Monday to boost his campaign online, less than a month before the presidential election on October 4. The channel, named "TV Celular Flávio Bolsonaro," broadcasts 24 hours a day and features the eldest son of the far-right leader, who trails President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in polls.[S1]
On Brazil's Independence Day, the Liberal Party candidate led the first broadcast from a studio in São Paulo, equipped with a large screen and a table with several microphones. During the show, he criticized Lula's administration, interviewed allies, and highlighted some of his campaign promises.[S1]
Attacks on judiciary and campaign promises
Flávio also attacked Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who presided over the trial that sent his father to prison for an alleged coup attempt and is now under suspicion due to his closeness to Daniel Vorcaro, a banker jailed for a multimillion-dollar fraud in the financial system.[S1]
The 45-year-old senator said, "We have the obligation to lift our heads and rescue the morality of this country, rescue the credibility of the institutions." In his first round of interviews, he invited his wife, Fernanda Bolsonaro; his main economic adviser, Daniella Marques; and former São Paulo Security Secretary and Senate candidate Guilherme Derrite.[S1]
Wearing a yellow shirt with the message "My party is Brazil," Flávio promised that if he wins the election, he will set up a "dynamic, modern government with artificial intelligence" that will exercise power "with great austerity." He also announced a "big cut" in public spending to reduce the official interest rates, currently at 14.0% annually, and ease Brazilians' high debt levels.[S1]
Family and conservative appeals
Flávio referred to his candidacy as "a project of God," praised his father, who is disqualified, sentenced to 27 years in prison, and under house arrest for coup-mongering, and, in an attempt to capture conservative votes, said women are "fundamental for the perpetuation of the human species on Earth."[S1]
He added, "If men got pregnant, the human species would have become extinct from Earth a long time ago, because we would not endure carrying a life for nine months in the belly. We would not manage to breastfeed either; imagine a man with a baby hanging from his chest, sucking... I could not. Thank God, God made women with that strength and that sensitivity."[S1]
In another moment, Flávio spoke by video call with his brother Eduardo, self-exiled in the United States and sentenced by the Supreme Court in June to 4 years in prison for attempting to interfere in the trial of his father by promoting sanctions from Donald Trump's government against Brazil. The presidential candidate will lead a rally on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo this same Monday for Independence Day, as his father used to do.[S1]
