Presidential debate in Brazil with Lula’s peace and Bolsonaro’s defeat

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with the other candidates for the first time in a live presidential debate, the last time a sitting president will be seen before the first round on October 2. Negative effects of his activity.

According to a survey by the Datafolha Institute published on August 18, Lula leads the electoral race with a 47% preference to 32% against Bolsonaro. Other polls also put him in the lead, albeit by a small margin.

Organized by a group of Brazilian media, including Rede Bandeirantes and Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, four other candidates also participated: Ciro Gomez (7%), from the Democratic Workers Party (PDT, center-left); Simone Tebet (2%), of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB, conservative); Added to Senators Soraya Thronik and Felipe D’Avila, both of whom had less than 1% of voting intentions.

Beyond corruption in Brazil

“His government is the most corrupt in the history of Brazil,” the far-right Bolsonaro began. Minutes before the debate, the president branded Lula a “thief.”

“President Lula, why do you want to come back to power? Do you want to keep doing the same things at Petrobras? “The oil company has accumulated a debt of 900 billion reais (about 180 billion dollars) in the governments of the Workers’ Party (PT),” asked the president.

Lula, 76, defended the social improvements of his governments (2003-2010) and responded that the current president was “destroying” the country.

Attacks by Bolsonaro’s misogynists

In one of the most tense moments, Bolsonaro attacked journalist Vera Magalhas in a question that the president had spread false information about Covid-19 vaccines.

Before the group’s journalist’s question Globe and TV Culture Regarding the vaccine, Bolsonaro responded: “Vera, you sleep thinking about me, you have some attraction… You cannot take a side in such a debate and make false accusations about me. You are an embarrassment to the Brazilian press.

Later branded a misogynist by candidate Simone Debate, Bolsonaro dismissed the criticism as “cheap talk”. The senator also said that he was the protector of the rapists and torturers of women in the military dictatorship.

Bolsonaro later claimed that “women are victimized” and defended a conservative anti-abortion agenda. He also said that the peasant women were freed from having weapons to defend themselves.

Note by Alberto Fernandez in Brazil

At the end of the debate, Bolsonaro raised the question relationship Lula’s policy with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez.

“Look where Argentina is going. Argentine President met Lula in prison. Today 40 percent of Argentina’s population is destitute. Lula supported a candidate who set fire to a tunnel in Chile, and a candidate who is pro-drug and prisoner release in Colombia. Support Daniel Ortega’s persecution of religious people in Nicaragua,” Bolsonaro said.

Lulla in white

Another moment that went unnoticed on social media was Lula’s sudden silence.

When the former president questioned Bolsonaro about Brazil’s economic situation, he suddenly went blank, making only facial expressions but not making a sound, comparing him to US President Joe Biden. He had moments of confusion at public events.

The President of Brazil took advantage of this situation and spoke with a smile.

The tension of the debate was particularly evident in the next room, where journalists and politicians followed the debate on a screen. Turmoil broke out during the debate between Lula’s ally, Deputy Andre Janones, and former Environment Minister Bolsonaro Ricardo Salles, who were about to attack each other.

Who won?

Among the undecideds after the debate, according to a Datafolha poll, the night’s winner was Simone Debate, who topped the list for best performer with 43% of the vote.

Bolsonaro, on the other hand, has the worst ratings among undecided voters or those who intend to vote blank. It was cited by 51% as the worst candidate At night, followed by Lula, 21%.

A qualitative survey was conducted with 64 people divided into three virtual rooms. All the participants evaluated the candidates’ performance block wise and finally they chose who did the best.

According to the reaction of these groups, Bolsonaro’s approach was perceived as “rude” and “macho”, with rejection high among women. According to sources in the candidate’s campaign, Bolsonaro made a mistake that could affect his strategy to improve his position among female voters, Magalhas wrote. Or the globe.

The same newspaper said today that Bolsonaro has decided not to go to any more debates before the first round, and that he will only give a few interviews, where he will face little conflict on podcasts with better audiences.

*Grupo de Diarios América (GDA), part of El Nacional, is a leading media network founded in 1991 that promotes democratic values, free press and freedom of expression in Latin America through quality journalism to our audience.