Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro call each other liars in bitter first runoff debate

Brazil’s presidential runoff turned openly personal on Sunday night as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro used their first televised debate in São Paulo to call each other liars and accuse each other of corruption.

The debate came exactly a week before the 25 October second round, a race the polls describe as close, with Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, holding a slight edge.

Insults across the stage

Lula came out swinging. He called his rival “a habitual liar” and a “thug”, and described him as a “militiaman”, a reference to the Bolsonaro family’s alleged ties to Rio de Janeiro’s paramilitary groups. He also said Bolsonaro had never used the public health system or taken a bus.

Bolsonaro answered in kind. He called the president a “clown”, raised a possible corruption case involving one of Lula’s sons and said it was better to keep his distance from Lula “because my wallet could be stolen”.

Lula, who spent 580 days in prison in 2018 and 2019 on a corruption conviction that was later annulled, pressed the senator to explain a corruption investigation involving his father. Bolsonaro did not answer directly.

Jair Bolsonaro, who lost the 2022 election to Lula, is under house arrest and serving a 27-year sentence linked to efforts to overturn that result.

Spending, Milei and Covid

On policy, Bolsonaro accused Lula of “reckless spending” to win re-election. Lula in turn asked whether his opponent would copy the deep public spending cuts of Argentina’s President Javier Milei. The senator sidestepped the question.

On Covid-19, Bolsonaro conceded that his father’s government “wasn’t an area where we saw the best results”, one of the few moments of concession in a combative evening.

Legal clouds over the challenger

The debate unfolded on a difficult day for the senator. Federal police were reported to have asked the Supreme Court on Sunday to open an investigation into him over a money laundering accusation involving a lawyer close to him. He is already under investigation over links to Daniel Vorcaro, a former banker who financed a film about Jair Bolsonaro.

A race decided by turnout

Bolsonaro finished the first round ahead with 47% of the vote to Lula’s 45%. About 33 million people, roughly one in five eligible voters, stayed home, and both camps are now chasing them.

Supporters held large rallies on Sunday, with Bolsonaro’s backers gathering in São Paulo and Lula’s in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro.

The candidates meet for a second and final debate on 23 October, two days before Brazilians vote.