Tarcísio's allies try to contain the fallout after his remarks about 'free elections'.
According to allies, Tarcísio criticized the exclusion of Jair Bolsonaro from the 2026 presidential race, without questioning the electronic voting system.
247 - Allies of the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicanos), came to his defense after negative repercussions from a statement he made last Friday (18), when he commented on the Federal Police action against Jair Bolsonaro (PL). The information is from the column Dashboard, from Folha de S. Paulo.
At the time, Tarcísio stated on his social media that "there will be no pacification until we find the path to balance. There will be no social peace without political peace, without a long-term vision, without free, fair and competitive elections. The succession of errors we are witnessing is taking Brazil away from its path."
The statement was interpreted by sectors of the federal government and by PT leaders as an insinuation that the Brazilian electoral system is not trustworthy — a discourse that echoes Bolsonaro's rhetoric and which, in fact, is at the center of the investigation into the attempted coup d'état attributed to Jair Bolsonaro and several close allies.
However, according to the report, people close to the governor stated that his intention was not to call into question the integrity of the electoral process. According to these sources, Tarcísio only sought to criticize Bolsonaro's exclusion from the 2026 presidential race, without questioning the legitimacy of the electronic voting system. "He continues to trust the electoral system," his allies assured.
The governor's statement came a day after the courts imposed new restrictive measures on Bolsonaro, including the use of an electronic ankle monitor, as part of an investigation into the existence of a criminal organization dedicated to forging documents and planning a coup d'état. In addition to already being ineligible to run for office by a decision of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), the former president now risks being arrested by order of the Supreme Federal Court (STF).
The episode caused particular surprise because, in March of this year, Tarcísio himself made strong compliments to the Brazilian Electoral Court and the electronic voting system during a public event. On that occasion, he described the model as a "reference for the world".
