Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and his leftist election rival, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, traded barbs on Friday in their final televised debate ahead of Sunday’s election.
Right now, polls are suggesting that Lula, vying for a third term as president, has a slight lead over incumbent Bolsonaro, according to The Guardian.
The debate was held in the studios of Brazil’s largest broadcaster and with two ultra-huge egos at the podiums, it may have been better to stage the debate outdoors. Reuters is calling the confrontation a “free-wheeling” encounter, but from the descriptions by different news media, it was more like a free-for-all.
The two deeply polarizing figures attacked each other’s character and record, accused each other of lying, and refused repeatedly to answer each other’s questions.
Lula accused Bolsonaro of catastrophically mishandling a Covid outbreak that has killed nearly 700,000 Brazilians, arming organized crime by loosening gun laws and trashing the Amazon and Brazil’s international reputation.
“Brazil is more isolated than Cuba …. We have become a pariah,” the 77-year-old leftist said, castigating Bolsonaro’s “insane behavior.”
Bolsonaro opened the debate by denying reports that he might unpeg the minimum wage from inflation, announcing instead he would raise it to 1,400 reals ($260) a month if re-elected, a move that is not in his government’s 2023 budget.
He then took to repeatedly calling Lula a liar and highlighted the corruption scandals that tarnished the 14 years in which the ex-president’s Workers’ party (PT) governed from 2003 to 2016. “Lula, you’re a crook,” Bolsonaro fumed. “Your government was a champion in corruption.”
Sad to say, and he should keep out of Brazil’s politics, but Donald Trump waded into the debate, urging Brazilians to reject Lula, “a radical left lunatic who will quickly destroy your country.”
Misinformation on social media
One of the biggest fears for Lula followers is that Bolsonaro has hinted he will challenge any results in the election that he considers “abnormal” – and this could provoke Trump-style turmoil if he loses.
According to the Washington Post, there is a body of evidence that social media platforms are failing to prevent a flood of disinformation on their services ahead of the runoff election Sunday.
To combat this misinformation, Brazilian lawmakers last week granted the nation’s elections chief unilateral power to force tech companies to remove misinformation within two hours of the content being posted. This is one of the most aggressive legal measures against social media giants that any country has taken.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly alleged without evidence that voting machines used for a quarter century in Brazil are prone to fraud. The rhetoric of Bolsonaro supporters has often appeared to echo that of President Donald Trump supporters during the 2020 U.S. election.
Viral audio and video on Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and TikTok alleged that ballot boxes were being pre-filled with votes for former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
But not to be outdone, Lula supporters have also posted messages that include false allegations that Bolsonaro has confessed to cannibalism and pedophilia.
Whichever side prevails, tens of millions of citizens are likely to be shattered. “I’ll move to Finland the next day,” if Lula wins, said Dhennis Wheberth, a Bolsonaro activist and evangelical pastor – his movement remains overwhelmingly loyal to the president.
