Bolsonaro awards Kassab the "unbreakable" medal and signals political reconciliation.
Ineligible to run for office, former president signals rapprochement with Tarcísio's "strongman" with an eye on the 2026 elections.
247 - Former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) presented the medal of “unbreakable, immortal and inedible” to the national president of the PSD and Secretary of Government of São Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, on Tuesday (17), during an event in Presidente Prudente, in the interior of São Paulo. The gesture, symbolic and reserved only for close allies, was interpreted behind the scenes as a sign of rapprochement between the two political leaders. The information is from the portal Metropolis.
Bolsonaro and Kassab shared the stage alongside Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicanos), with whom Kassab is a direct ally in the São Paulo state government. In a speech at the opening of an agricultural fair, Bolsonaro made a series of overtures to the president of the PSD party and emphasized: “I have said, Kassab: Give me 50% of the Chamber, 50% and I will change Brazil. The other 50% stays with the PSD, stays with the PL, stays with the other parties.”
The scene of the medal presentation was shared on social media by Kassab himself. The gesture, according to sources consulted by... MetropolisThis was interpreted as part of an attempt by Bolsonaro to rebuild bridges with the political center, especially at a time of fragility — the former president is a defendant in the Supreme Federal Court (STF), accused of attempted coup d'état, and faces a real risk of imprisonment as early as 2025.
“Bolsonaro is reconnecting bridges that had been destroyed. What I saw [at the event] was a 'political being' who is already resigned to the future that awaits him. In my view, the compliments to Kassab are included in the same category as his testimony to the Supreme Court,” he stated. Metropolis An ally of the PSD president, comparing the gesture to the more moderate tone adopted by Bolsonaro during his recent testimony to Minister Alexandre de Moraes.
In addition to presenting the medal, Bolsonaro praised the PSD and said that there are "many good people in Brazil," in contrast to his stance in the 2022 municipal elections, when he vetoed alliances with the party and attributed responsibility for the votes in favor of his indictment in the January 8th Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry to Kassab.
Kassab's allies highlighted that he was the first person mentioned by Bolsonaro in his speech, being introduced as the "president of the largest party in the country, after the PL". Behind the scenes, the political interpretation is that Bolsonaro, weakened legally and isolated in part of the political spectrum, is seeking to rebuild alliances around Tarcísio de Freitas, a potential candidate for the presidency in 2026.
"The medal is a unique gesture, because Bolsonaro only gives that medal to those he wants to distinguish," said a close ally of the former president, reinforcing the symbolism of the gesture.
The rapprochement with Kassab may represent more than a one-off gesture: it signals that Bolsonarism is willing to make concessions to the center in order to maintain electoral prominence in the coming years. For allies, it is the beginning of a new phase in Bolsonaro's strategy: less confrontation and more compromise.