It's time to turn the page, the artificial voice said—then the party fell apart
An AI video presented retired STF president Barbosa as a 2026 presidential candidate, positioning him against Lula and Bolsonaro as a centrist alternative to Brazil's political polarization. The party's move contradicts Barbosa's lack of public confirmation and occurred without his authorization, according to sources close to the 71-year-old former judge.
- AI-generated video posted May 22 to Instagram account with 258 followers
- Joaquim Barbosa, 71, former Supreme Court president, not consulted before launch
- Aldo Rebelo expelled same day but refuses to accept expulsion, claims candidacy
- 2026 presidential election in October; party attempting centrist alternative to Lula and Bolsonaro
Brazil's Democratic Christian party released an AI-generated video launching retired Supreme Court justice Joaquim Barbosa as a presidential candidate without his prior consent, deepening internal party conflict as rival candidate Aldo Rebelo contests his expulsion.
On Friday, May 22nd, the Democratic Christian party posted a video to an Instagram account with 258 followers. The account had never posted anything before. The video was made by artificial intelligence. It showed a man in judicial robes walking past a row of television screens, each one flickering with images from Brazil's political chaos—Flávio Bolsonaro's name linked to a massive banking fraud, Lula speaking about drug trafficking and crime. The man reached for a remote control and switched them all off. He turned to the camera. "It's time to turn the page," he said.
The man was Joaquim Barbosa, 71, the first Black president of Brazil's Supreme Court. He served from 2012 to 2014, appointed by Lula himself, and became a national figure for his rigid judicial temperament and his role in the Mensalão trial, where he voted to convict senior members of Lula's own party for corruption. The video presented him as a presidential candidate for October's election—a centrist alternative to both the left and the right, to both Lula and the Bolsonaros.
Barbosa had not authorized the video. People close to him said he was never consulted before it went live. His office did not respond to requests for comment. Officially, he has never confirmed he intends to run for president. The party simply announced it for him, in artificial voices and digital images, to an audience of 258 people.
The move deepened a crisis already tearing the Democratic Christian party apart. Weeks earlier, the party had launched another candidate: Aldo Rebelo, a former minister, as its presidential hopeful. Rebelo and the party's president, João Caldas, had traded public insults. On Friday—the same day the Barbosa video dropped—the party's national leadership voted to expel Rebelo summarily.
Rebelo refused to accept it. The next day, speaking at a business forum in Guarujá, on São Paulo's coast, he insisted he remained a party member and a legitimate presidential candidate. He said he had never been officially notified of his expulsion. "I continue linked to the party, yes, and conducting my pre-campaign," he said. "I'm here as a pre-candidate and speaking as a pre-candidate."
So the Democratic Christian party now had two men claiming to be its presidential candidate. One had been launched without his knowledge or consent, via artificial intelligence, to an account with fewer followers than a small neighborhood has residents. The other had been expelled but refused to leave. Neither had formally confirmed their candidacy. Both were running anyway. The party that had meant to present a unified alternative to Brazil's polarized politics had instead fractured into competing claims, competing narratives, competing versions of who was actually running and why. The video was supposed to turn the page. Instead it had torn one.
Notable Quotes
I continue linked to the party, yes, and conducting my pre-campaign. I'm here as a pre-candidate and speaking as a pre-candidate.— Aldo Rebelo, on his expulsion and continued candidacy
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why would a party launch a candidate without asking him first?
That's the question everyone's asking. Sources close to Barbosa say he wasn't consulted. It's possible the party leadership saw an opening—a respected judge, untainted by the Lula-Bolsonaro wars—and moved before he could say no.
But he's 71 and was appointed by Lula. How is he a fresh alternative?
He convicted Lula's own allies in the Mensalão trial. That's his credential. He's not Lula, not Bolsonaro, not obviously captured by either side. For a centrist party, that's the whole pitch.
And Aldo Rebelo? Why is he still claiming candidacy after being expelled?
Because the party never formally notified him. He's calling their bluff—saying the expulsion isn't real until he receives official notice. It's a legal technicality, but it's also a power play.
So the party has two candidates now?
Effectively, yes. One who doesn't know he's running, one who refuses to stop running. It's chaos dressed up as democracy.
What does this say about the party itself?
That it's fractured and desperate. They wanted to offer Brazil something different from Lula and Bolsonaro. Instead they've offered confusion and infighting. The video was supposed to be their moment. It became their embarrassment.