Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court judge André Mendonça rejected a complaint by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s coalition over a Flávio Bolsonaro campaign ad that calls the Workers’ Party the “Tigrinho party” in a reference to online betting.
The ad aired on Sept. 26. Bolsonaro says he opposes online casinos and voted against a related proposal. He also says taxes on gamblers’ losses go to Lula’s government. The coalition asked the court to bar the ad from airing again, impose a fine and remove Bolsonaro’s campaign airtime.
Mendonça ruled that the spot was political criticism and did not contain an objective factual falsehood that would justify court intervention. He noted that Bolsonaro supported an amendment removing online casino games from the bill that became Law No. 14,790/2023. In the judge’s view, the dispute concerned the political meaning of that vote, not whether it took place.
Lula’s coalition argued the ad left out context: betting regulation began under a previous government, and Lula’s administration later ordered an end to offering and advertising such bets. The judge said the summary simplified the debate and was unfavorable to the Workers’ Party, but that this alone did not make it false.
Mendonça described “Tigrinho party” and “the monster they themselves created” as political puns and metaphors. He said disputes over the fairness or completeness of that interpretation should be answered through political debate. The electoral prosecutor’s office had also recommended rejecting the complaint.