Ronaldo Caiado, a PSD pre-candidate for the presidency and former governor of Goiás, said a supportive letter from Jair Bolsonaro exposed the weakness of Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign [1].
The comments highlight growing friction within the Brazilian right-wing coalition as candidates vie for the support of the former president's base ahead of the 2026 elections.
Caiado said during the 27th [2] edition of the Festival do Japão in São Paulo on June 15, 2026 [1, 3], that he was addressing a public letter sent by former President Jair Bolsonaro to his son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, which was intended as a gesture of political backing.
Caiado said that while no father would deny help to his son, the public nature of the gesture reinforced the "extrema fragilidade" — or extreme fragility — of Flávio Bolsonaro's presidential campaign [1]. He said that the reliance on such an endorsement demonstrated a lack of independent political strength.
In further remarks, Caiado said that the senator's need for this specific type of support damaged his viability as a candidate. He said Flávio Bolsonaro lost the chance to win the election against President Lula [4].
Despite the critical tone regarding the campaign's strength, some reports indicated that Caiado avoided direct personal attacks on the senator and defended the presumption of innocence regarding legal matters [5]. However, he said that the country requires a president with intellectual independence.
Caiado continues to position himself as a primary alternative within the PSD, leveraging these critiques to distinguish his own candidacy from the Bolsonaro family's influence [1, 4].
“"this gesture reinforces the extreme fragility of Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign."”
The exchange signals a strategic shift where right-wing challengers are no longer relying solely on the Bolsonaro brand for legitimacy. By framing the former president's support as a sign of weakness rather than a strength, Caiado is attempting to carve out a path to the presidency based on independent leadership and intellectual autonomy, potentially splitting the conservative vote.
