Pablo Marçal, an influencer who registered a presidential candidacy with the Brazilian Labour Party (PRTB), said on Monday that he plans to take part in the televised presidential debates and will not cause problems for the campaign of Flávio Bolsonaro, the PL senator running for president. According to Folha de S.Paulo, Marçal made the remarks during an interview with the Brasil Paralelo channel.
Marçal said the result of the first electoral polls would "scare" those currently disputing the presidential race. He noted that he had obtained a provisional injunction from a São Paulo Electoral Court judge allowing him to register his candidacy with the PRTB, and that the decision could be overturned by the same judge or a higher court.
"I will take part in the debates; the next poll will change the course of things," Marçal told the interviewer. He added that he had spoken "a lot" with Flávio Bolsonaro and that the senator was the first person he called after securing his candidacy registration, telling him to "follow your path in peace, you will not have trouble with me."
Marçal described Bolsonaro’s reaction: "He laughed." He said the main concern of Bolsonaro and others was that "Marçal will come and melt them down," but that his goal is to "break the cycle of the PT, so that the PT becomes the PSDB through ostracism."
He also said voters should follow their own choices, adding that he entered politics to answer an inner calling and that he is "absolutely certain" he will become president, whether in this election or a future one, without urgency.
Regarding international support, Marçal cited the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and former U.S. president Donald Trump as backers of Flávio Bolsonaro, noting that Bolsonaro met Trump at the White House in May while allies tried to build a positive agenda for his pre‑campaign after the "Dark Horse" controversy.
Marçal also directed a message to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, calling him "the greatest politician in Brazil’s history" and using biblical references such as David and Goliath to describe his own ambitions. "I am David and I will bring down Goliath," he said, framing his campaign as an effort to end the Workers’ Party’s streak of electoral victories.
The Folha reported that Lula’s campaign has decided not to attend the Band debate scheduled for August 23, citing unequal conditions, and that the absence of Lula likely means Flávio Bolsonaro will also not participate, according to the newspaper’s Painel column.
Marçal said he expects to face judicial efforts to keep him ineligible but expressed confidence that "in matters of law, there is no way to maintain my ineligibility." He added that he fears possible retaliation in his ongoing legal cases if he speaks openly about the issue, though he said he does not fear eventual imprisonment, citing biblical figures who endured jail.
He also mentioned a strategy of improving his poll numbers by adopting an "anti‑system" approach, comparing it to Jair Bolsonaro’s rise through the small PSL party, and said he hopes the former president will be released "very soon" from prison.
Finally, Marçal noted that, to reduce his legal burdens, he aims to cut the number of outstanding court cases against him from 257 to 15, unless his "heart" urges him to act otherwise.
To run for office, Marçal must overturn or suspend the electoral court conviction that rendered him ineligible. The provisional injunction granted by Judge Gustavo Nardi of Santana de Parnaíba considers his PRTB affiliation retroactive to April 4, the legal deadline for party affiliation, but the judge stressed that the case requires full clarification of the facts and deeper analysis of the evidence.