From the Absence of a Proposal to the Refusal to Accept Defeat: Strategic Ignorance and the Struggle for Legitimacy in the Presidential Speeches of the 2026 Brazilian Elections.

This article analyzes the speeches of the presidential candidates in the 2026 Brazilian elections, from the first round, held on October 4, to the period immediately after the runoff, held on October 25, in which Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) was reelected with 51.79% of the valid votes against 48.21% for Flávio Bolsonaro (PL). Drawing on Anthony Downs's concept of rational ignorance, shifted from voters to the candidates themselves, and on the notion of losers' consent, this qualitative and documentary study examines government plans, interviews, debates, victory and concession speeches, and official statements published between January and October 2026. The results reveal three patterns already present in the first round (factual disconnection, inconsistency between discourse and track record, and an institutional feasibility gap) and a fourth pattern specific to the post-election period: challenging the result without presenting evidence. The article concludes that the ignorance that marked the 2026 election was strategic rather than epistemic and that, by the end of the race, it had moved from the field of policy proposals to the field of the democratic rules of the game.