Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and a pre-candidate for the 2026 presidential race, has been baptised four times in the evangelical faith — including two trips to the Jordan River in Israel — yet Brazil's influential evangelical community has so far withheld the broad, enthusiastic backing it once gave his father. Pastors interviewed by Brazilian investigative outlet Agência Pública say the rituals carry an obvious political dimension, with Flávio attempting to replicate a playbook that helped Jair consolidate evangelical support before his successful 2018 campaign, but noting that being evangelical is not enough — he must also be perceived as authentically evangelical. Unlike his father, who was Catholic yet cultivated a near-messianic image among evangelical voters through high-profile pastoral endorsements and his wife Michelle's prominent Christian identity, Flávio has struggled to attract the same organic enthusiasm from key religious leaders, complicating his bid to inherit the bolsonarista (the political movement built around Jair Bolsonaro) voter base.