Sparks flew on Sunday as far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro accused leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of massive corruption, and drew accusations of “destroying Brazil” in return, as they faced off in their first election debate.
The two front-runners, who waited until the last minute to confirm they would attend the first televised debate ahead of October’s elections, wasted no time in attacking each other.
Bolsonaro called Da Silva, commonly known as Lula, a “thief” in his opening salvo of the three-hour clash, pummeling the 76-year-old former Brazillian president over the massive “Car Wash” corruption scandal centered on state-run oil giant Petrobras.
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The investigation landed Lula in prison from 2018 to 2019 on controversial corruption charges that were annulled by the Supreme Court last year.
“Your government was the most corrupt in Brazilian history,” said Bolsonaro, 67, rattling off figures from the scandal.
“It was a kleptocracy, a government based on robbery... What do you want to come back to power for? To do the same thing to Petrobras again?” Bolsonaro said.
Lula said Bolsonaro was spreading “untruths” — one of several exchanges in which they accused each other of lying.
He accused the incumbent of trashing his legacy of economic growth and anti-poverty initiatives.
“This country has been destroyed,” Lula said in his trademark gravelly voice, attacking Bolsonaro over increased poverty and hunger, soaring prices and a surge in the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
The front-runners had numerous fiery exchanges, but hewed to the rules and kept their demeanor relatively civilized. With no audience in the studio, the tension surrounding the debate was palpable in the next room, where journalists and politicians followed it on a screen.
Brazilian lawmaker Andre Janones, who supports Lula, and Bolsonaro’s former Minister of the environment Ricardo Salles got into a raucous shouting match and came close to hitting each other before they were pulled away.
In all, six of the 12 presidential candidates on the ballot were on the neon-blue-lit stage in TV network Band’s Sao Paulo studios.
Yet all eyes in the polarized Latin American country of 213 million people were on front-runner Lula, the popular but tarnished former-metal worker who led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, and his nemesis, Bolsonaro — the leader nicknamed the “Tropical Trump” — who is vying for a come-from-behind win.
Neither appeared to score a knockout punch, and both drew criticism for their performances.
Bolsonaro sparked outrage with a trademark rant in which he attacked journalist Vera Magalhaes, one of the moderators, for saying he had spread disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.
“Vera, you think about me in your sleep, you must have a crush on me or something,” the incumbent reacted irately. “You can’t take part in a debate like this and spread lies and accusations about me. You’re an embarrassment to Brazilian journalism.”
Bolsonaro, who has been struggling to win over female voters, drew accusations of misogyny on social networks after the episode.
Lula delivered an underwhelming performance, looking less fiery as the three-hour debate wore on.
“Lula looked very timid and made mistakes on certain points, falling into some traps,” said Andre Cesar, a political analyst at consulting firm Hold.
He gave Bolsonaro the edge in the debate for hitting on his favorite themes, “nation, family and freedom.”
“Bolsonaro was looser, letting out his phrases, laughing,” Cesar said. “In that sense, Bolsonaro won.”
However, he added that the incumbent’s attack on the moderator “showed that this is who Bolsonaro is — and that might hurt him anyway.”
Lula leads Bolsonaro by 47 percent to 32 percent, the most recent poll from the Datafolha institute showed.
If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of valid votes in the first round on Oct. 2, the election would go to a runoff on Oct. 30.
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