by Ivan Longo
Flávio Bolsonaro’s flight to the United States following his defeat in the presidential election has turned the senator into a target of widespread ridicule and deepened his political isolation, even among his own allies. This is the focus of a report by the international news agency Agence France-Presse AFP, published this Thursday, October 29, which covers the attempt by Jair Bolsonaro’s son to declare himself the “leader of Brazil” from Florida.
Under the headline “Brazil’s Flavio Bolsonaro isolated, ridiculed after self-exile,” the AFP describes a mix of mockery, disbelief, and disapproval over the actions of the defeated candidate.
Presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro looks on after the results of the general election day on October 25, 2026 in Brasilia, Brazil. (Photo by Ton Molina/Getty Images)
After leaving Brazil via a route that took him through Argentina and Ecuador, despite a court order requiring him to surrender his passports, Flávio released a letter in which he presented himself as the country’s “true president.” Minutes later, he amended the text to define himself simply as a “leader.”
From Defeated Candidate to Laughingstock
The self-proclamation triggered a flood of irony on social media. The AFP notes that singer Anitta joined in, declaring herself “free of cellulite,” while one influencer claimed to be the “true president” of Twitter, and another social media user announced that she had won an upcoming lottery draw. Revista Fórum also covered Anitta’s ironic response to Flávio Bolsonaro’s self-proclamation.
The episode took an unusual turn when an ally of Bolsonaro attributed the use of an obsolete Brazilian coat of arms, discarded in the 1960s, in one version of the letter to ChatGPT. The Brazilian press also weighed in. According to the news agency, a column in O Globo compared Flávio to a “madhouse Napoleon,” while Folha de São Paulo described the statement as “pathetic.”
Even Allies Reject Flávio’s Move
The embarrassment was felt even inside the Bolsonarista camp. The governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas told Estadão that the election results are sovereign and must be respected.
Meanwhile, Rogério Marinho, coordinator of Flávio’s campaign, acknowledged that there is no evidence of the electoral fraud alleged by the defeated candidate.
The national president of the Liberal Party, Valdemar Costa Neto, also distanced himself from the initiative. After visiting Jair Bolsonaro this Thursday, October 29, he said that “no one approves” of the letter released by the senator and argued that the party should move on.
Speaking to AFP, political scientist Geraldo Monteiro, from Rio de Janeiro State University, said that this self-proclamation was a calculated attempt by Flávio to preserve his influence over the right wing. However, he considers it unlikely that the senator will be able to lead the opposition from abroad, given that the elected lawmakers no longer depend on him. In the researcher’s view, the initiative also exposes a rift between those allies who remain unconditionally loyal to the Bolsonaro family and those who have no desire to participate in another coup-plot venture.
This article was originally published by Revista Forum. It has been translated by Panamerican Dispatch. You can read it in its original Portuguese here.
