Michelle Bolsonaro Defends Praise for Lula Deaf-Education Policy

Michelle Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former first lady, defended her praise for a deaf-education policy launched by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government after criticism from Bolsonaro supporters, according to single-source reporting from O Globo.

The dispute centers on the National Policy for Bilingual Education for Deaf People, a Ministry of Education initiative meant to expand access, retention and learning for students with hearing disabilities. Michelle, who is married to former President Jair Bolsonaro and has long associated herself with disability-rights causes, said the agenda should not be treated as partisan.

"I have always defended people with disabilities. This is the cause of my heart, and it is above any ideology or party," Michelle said, according to O Globo.

A Policy With Two Claims

Michelle said the policy launched under Lula on July 4, 2026, had been "designed and presented" during Jair Bolsonaro’s administration. She said a court action delayed its processing and prevented the previous government from delivering it before Bolsonaro left office at the end of 2022.

The former president signed a 2021 law that inserted bilingual education for deaf people into Brazil’s national education guidelines as an independent teaching modality. Before that change, O Globo reported, it had been treated as part of special education.

Her first post praising the policy triggered accusations of betrayal from parts of the Bolsonaro-aligned right. The reaction came at a sensitive moment for Brazil’s conservative camp, amid a public rift involving Michelle and Bolsonaro’s sons.

Pressure From the Right

O Globo said the conflict between Michelle and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, Jair Bolsonaro’s eldest son, has intensified in recent weeks. The newspaper cited a survey by the consulting firm Bites showing that, since June 27, three days after Michelle posted videos accusing Flávio of mistreating her, about one third of 300,000 social-media mentions of Michelle included criticism of her.

The same survey, obtained by O Globo, found that early attempts to frame Michelle as a traitor did not immediately gain traction online. Some figures on the right, including Senator Cleitinho of Republicanos in Minas Gerais state, initially defended the former first lady after her criticism of Flávio drew attention from left-wing and independent users.

According to O Globo, the attacks from Bolsonaro supporters gained strength after Michelle left the presidency of PL Mulher, the women’s wing of the Liberal Party (PL), Jair Bolsonaro’s party. The newspaper named blogger Allan dos Santos, influencer Paulo Figueiredo and federal deputy Bia Kicis of PL in Brasília as figures who either attacked Michelle or defended Flávio.

André Eler, technical director at Bites, told O Globo that the data suggest the right now feels authorized to criticize Michelle. He said posts from the Bolsonaro-aligned camp mainly target the former first lady and her allies, weakening them inside that political segment.

The episode shows how a nonpartisan social-policy issue became entangled in the internal politics of Brazil’s right. Michelle’s defense rests on continuity: she argues the policy came from work begun under Bolsonaro. Her critics are reacting less to the education measure itself than to the symbolism of praising a program launched by Lula, Bolsonaro’s main political rival.