'The Trumps look like quiet suburbanites by comparison': 18 Bolsonaros running in Brazil's election

Eighteen members of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's family and relatives are running in Sunday's presidential and general elections, including his wife, sons and brother. The right-wing clan has drawn support from Donald Trump, while Brazilian prosecutors have asked police to investigate alleged US interference in the vote.

Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro (left), the eldest son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, holds up a portrait of his father while campaigning with supporters on Sunday (local time). [AFP]

Politics as a family business — and elections as a family affair.

The world is watching as Brazil's Bolsonaro family mounts an all-out political offensive, seeking to return the presidency to the family that already produced one. Eighteen members of the Bolsonaro clan are running in Sunday's (local time) presidential and general elections — a spectacle that led Germany's weekly Stern magazine to quip that "the Trump family looks like quiet suburban residents compared to the Bolsonaros."

Of the 18 Bolsonaro-linked candidates in this election, eight are core family members or close relatives of former President Jair Bolsonaro, including his wife, sons and brother.

His eldest son, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, is running as the Liberal Party (PL) presidential candidate, seeking to extend the family's hold on the presidency. He is locked in a tight race against incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party (PT).

Jair's wife, Michelle, and his second son, Carlos, are both running for Senate seats. His brother Renato and fourth son Renan are contesting seats in the lower house. Stern said the only member of the Bolsonaro family who has not entered politics is Jair's 15-year-old daughter, Laura.

Donald Trump's family drew criticism for wielding considerable influence in Washington across two terms, but observers say the Bolsonaros' political involvement is far more direct. During Trump's first term, his eldest daughter Ivanka played a direct role in diplomacy; in his second, son-in-law Jared Kushner has done the same. His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and second son, Eric, took active roles in Trump's reelection campaign. In the second term, Charles Kushner — Jared Kushner's father and Trump's co-father-in-law — serves as US ambassador to France, while Kimberly Guilfoyle, formerly Trump Jr.'s fiancée, serves as US ambassador to Greece. Lara Trump, Eric's wife, also co-chaired the Republican National Committee during the reelection campaign, helping deliver the victory.

Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, the Brazilian presidential candidate, poses for a photo with a supporter during a campaign event on Saturday (local time). [Reuters]

Yet the Bolsonaros go further still, seeking elected office directly rather than operating behind the scenes. Brazilian sociologist Debora Messenberg said sarcastically: "Eight members of one family running for office simultaneously is probably a world record."

Stern described the Bolsonaro clan as an unprecedented "political dynasty" in modern world history, comparing the family to other prominent political lineages such as France's far-right Le Pen family and the United States' Republican Bush family.

The magazine also took aim at presidential candidate Flavio, calling him "the embodiment of the establishment" — a contrast, it said, to political outsiders-turned-insiders like Donald Trump or Argentine President Javier Milei. "He became a senator because he is Jair's son. Politically, he has shown nothing beyond his surname," Stern said. "Lula rose from factory worker to president; Flavio went from the president's son to presidential candidate."

Former President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison on charges of conspiring with aides and military figures to stage a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election to Lula. He began serving his sentence in November last year, but in March a court allowed him to serve 90 days under house arrest for health reasons. Trump, who has long backed the right-wing former president, condemned the prison sentence and called on the Brazilian government to pardon him.

Meanwhile, Brazil's federal prosecutors on Thursday formally asked police to investigate allegations that the US administration used government funds to support right-wing civil society groups in Brazil — three days before the election. The request came in response to a Wednesday report by Britain's Guardian newspaper that the Trump administration had planned to funnel $1 million to civil society organizations opposed to Brazil's Supreme Court. President Lula, who is in a tight race against Sen. Flavio, has repeatedly accused the United States of interfering in the election.

kate01@heraldcorp.com