Tuesday, August 4, 2026 -The right-wing Liberal Party in Brazil has nominated former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro as a Senate candidate on Sunday, August 2, despite her recent feud with her stepson Flávio Bolsonaro, the party’s presidential nominee.
With ex-president Jair Bolsonaro under house arrest for
plotting a coup at the end of his 2019–2022 term, Michelle and Flávio Bolsonaro
have been locked in a struggle over influence in Brazil’s large conservative
movement.
The feud became public in late June when the former first
lady, 44, accused her 45-year-old stepson of disrespecting her, claiming he had
said she "didn’t understand anything about politics."
The spat was viewed as a major impediment to her stepson’s
attempts at broadening support ahead of the presidential election, given
Michelle Bolsonaro has proven popular among female and evangelical voters.
Flávio Bolsonaro, currently a senator, issued a public
apology before his formal nomination last weekend as the Liberal Party’s
presidential candidate—with his stepmother quickly accepting the olive branch.
He will face off in October against leftist incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da
Silva, 80, who is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term and has gained momentum
in recent weeks.
A Liberal Party event on Sunday in the capital Brasília was
expected to be a symbolic reunion of the two conservative heavyweights, but
Michelle Bolsonaro was a no-show. She was hospitalized the day before with a
severe headache and only discharged as the event got underway, according to the
medical center where she was treated.
Her brother Diego Torres delivered a speech she had planned
on giving in her place. "I accept this challenge," he said on her
behalf. Flávio Bolsonaro, for his part, said in a speech that "we are
going to rescue democracy, together with Michelle Bolsonaro."
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