Bolsonaro yields and will give interview to Brazil’s main newscast

Jair Bolsonaro during his Jornal Nacional appearance in 2018. Photo: Still from Globo

President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday relented to a condition imposed by Brazil’s largest broadcast network and will give an interview under the same conditions as other presidential candidates.

TV Globo, which airs Brazil’s top newscast Jornal Nacional from Monday through Saturday, refused Mr. Bolsonaro’s request to be interviewed at the Alvorada Palace, the president’s official residence.

Mr. Bolsonaro’s plea was based on the fact that former Presidents Lula and Dilma Rousseff were interviewed from the palace both in 2006 and 2014, respectively, when they were campaigning for re-election.

But Globo changed the rules this time around, insisting that all candidates be interviewed under the same conditions in the network’s main studio in Rio de Janeiro. Since President Bolsonaro refused to comply, the network announced its understanding that the invitation had been refused.

On Friday morning, however, the network announced that the Bolsonaro campaign made a U-turn and that the president will give an interview to Jornal Nacional in Rio on August 22.

The order of the 40-minute live interviews was chosen at random. Mr. Bolsonaro will be interviewed first, on a Monday. There will be no interview on Tuesday, as the slot was reserved for Congressman André Janones, who dropped out in favor of Lula. Ciro Gomes, third place in the polls, will go to Jornal Nacional on August 24. Former President Lula will be interviewed a day later, followed by Senator Simone Tebet on August 26.