Flávio pauses offensive against Moraes in the net when looking for home for Bolsonaro

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) interrupted, in the first months of 2026, the sequence of direct attacks on Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), on his social networks, after a period of strong digital offensive over the past year.

The movement occurs at a time when the parliamentarian is trying to consolidate his name as a candidate for President and began to act directly in defense of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). This week, Flávio met with Moraes to discuss the situation of his father, now imprisoned in Papudinha, and ask for “humane” house arrest.

According to him, the hearing was formally requested by the defense and took place in an “objective” manner, without the minister having anticipated any position on the claim.

— We formalized a new humanitarian home request and expressed our concerns there. It was an objective conversation, like lawyers, and he was left to evaluate — said Flávio.

A survey carried out by GLOBO on the senator’s networks shows that, since the beginning of the year, Flávio has avoided publishing content with direct mentions of the minister on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), two of his main communication platforms. Together, the two have almost 13 million followers.

One of the most recent exceptions was a post on On the occasion, the senator echoed the minister’s decision to ban an advisor to US President Donald Trump from visiting Bolsonaro in prison.

“Moraes is toxic, he has sunk the image of the Judiciary and is now creating a MASTER problem for Brazil. What is the problem with the guy visiting my father? Unless there is something to hide…,” he stated on the platform.

Previously, the last posts on the platform directly criticizing Moraes had been in January. In one of them, on January 1st, Flávio commented on a refusal by Bolsonaro’s minister for domicile and asked “until when will Moraes have power of attorney to carry out torture?”.

In the same month, Flávio also posted that Moraes would need to be “hospitalized” and that the minister would be “a risk to Bolsonaro’s life”. The senator also commented on the news that the magistrate ordered the Federal Police (PF) to listen to the president of the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) about Bolsonaro’s health, calling him a “denier”. The post was also reproduced on Instagram.

The cooling down of nominal attacks on Moraes, one of the main targets of Bolsonarism, contrasts with the pattern observed in 2025, when the minister was a figure stamped in his posts and whose face appeared on the cover of several posts through montages, which normally came together with phrases criticizing his performance as a magistrate.

Between July and September, when the STF process investigating Jair Bolsonaro for an attempted coup d’état reached its final stretch, Flávio intensified his criticism of the minister. In several publications, he accused Moraes of acting with “hatred”, “tyranny” and “persecution”, in addition to questioning his impartiality and defending his impeachment.

During the period, on Instagram alone, there were around 80 posts directly criticizing the minister, many of them with Moraes’ face as the main image.

The volume of publications accompanied relevant judicial decisions, such as the determination of the use of an electronic ankle bracelet by the former president, on July 18, and the decree of house arrest, on August 4, in addition to the trial itself that led to Bolsonaro’s conviction to 27 years and three months in prison, on September 11.

After the end of the trial, Flávio began to focus on publications about amnesty. The project that provides for a reduction in sentences for those convicted of the 8th of January ended up being approved in Congress and later vetoed by President Lula.

The change in the speech occurs in parallel with the change in the senator’s role, who began to join his father’s legal team and seek institutional dialogue with Moraes himself, after months of public clashes. Flávio’s allies report that the meeting was positive and cordial.

At the end of last year, Flávio was nominated by Bolsonaro as his successor in the electoral race for Palácio do Planalto. Now, to run for reelection against Lula, the senator is trying to adopt a moderate stance with the aim of expanding platforms and securing the largest possible number of votes from undecided voters.

Some of the pre-candidate’s allies, in addition to suggesting that he maintain this profile, have also been seeking not to “fullanize”, according to reports, issues involving the Supreme Court. The idea is to act without “raising dust” and not raising unnecessary controversy.

The assessment comes from the perception that Flávio has been riding a wave of good news in voting intention polls, which brings him closer to the PT’s main opponent. Recent surveys indicate a reduction in Lula’s advantage over the senator in second round scenarios, which has been interpreted by Bolsonarists as a sign of the candidacy’s competitiveness.

The senator’s interlocutors assess that Flávio’s growth in the polls was faster than expected and defend the adoption of this less combative profile as a way of keeping the mood positive. The reading is that the senator can expand dialogue with voters who are less ideologically aligned by avoiding topics that generate weariness and reducing the confrontational tone.

In this context, Flávio began to prioritize criticism of the federal government — something that has been a constant in his networks even at a time of stronger criticism of the STF — and economic issues, in addition to publishing agendas and results of electoral research.

In an event held on Avenida Paulista at the beginning of March, for example, although he criticized the STF, Flávio avoided mentioning ministers by name when defending the impeachment of members of the Court who, according to him, might break the law.

The stance contrasts with the style of his father and former president Jair Bolsonaro, who has already directed direct attacks at Moraes in public demonstrations, even calling him a “scoundrel” in a demonstration in 2021.

For allies, moderation in speech could help consolidate Flávio’s name in a scenario that is still open, around seven months before the election. At the same time, government supporters point out that the senator has a “glass ceiling” and that episodes in his political trajectory can be explored throughout the campaign and are already preparing, behind the scenes, a counterattack.