Presidential candidate Lula calls Bolsonaro a ‘little dictator’ in Brazilian TV debate

With the debate, candidates hope to win over floating voters when the second round of Brazil’s presidential elections takes place in two weeks. The word liar was mentioned several times, at least more than a dozen times per candidate.

‘You lie. You lie every day,” Lula said during the chat. He called Bolsonaro “the king of fake news.” Bolsonaro, in turn, has regularly said, “You can’t come here and tell people these lies. “.

Winner

Earlier this month, Lula won the first round of elections with 48% of the vote, compared to Bolsonaro’s 43%. Polls show the leftist Lula, who also served as president between 2003 and 2010, remains the leader, although his lead has narrowed considerably.

Each candidate focused on issues that polls suggest represent their opponent’s weaknesses: for Bolsonaro, it was the Covid pandemic that killed 680,000 Brazilians. “Never in the history of this country has a president been so negligent with human life,” he charged. And for Lula, it’s the corruption scandals involving his Workers’ Party. “You are a disgrace to the country,” Bolsonaro told him.

The two candidates are expected to take part in another debate a few days before the election on TV Globo, Brazil’s most popular channel.