This “fight of the titans” had been expected for months like a boxing match. Sunday, October 16, the two opponents of the second round of the Brazilian presidential election, the outgoing far-right head of state, Jair Bolsonaro, and the left-wing leader on the return, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, clashed in a first face-to-face televised debate. The opportunity for these two political “monsters” to compete live and under the gaze of millions of viewers.
Organized by several media, including the channel TV Bandeirantes, the historic event did not turn out to be a rat race. Lula will certainly have called his adversary “king of stupidity” and “little dictator”seeing himself qualified in return for ” liar “of “national disgrace” by Bolsonaro. But, despite some tough exchanges, and a very theatrical format, allowing the two candidates to wander on stage and approach each other, the climate remained rather courteous.
The first major theme addressed was that of the Covid-19 crisis, which claimed 687,000 victims in Brazil. “You laughed [des victimes]. (…) No government in the world has played with the pandemic and death like yours! »thundered Lula, putting Jair Bolsonaro face to face with his calamitous record in health matters and his status as an international pariah. “No country invites you and no one wants to come and see you. Me, I will reopen Brazil to the world”pushed a Lula, sure of himself.
The sequence turned to the advantage of the leader of the Workers’ Party (PT). Verbose, talkative and conquering, sporting a tie in the colors of Brazil, the latter did not hesitate to leave his desk to address the camera and accuse his opponent. Facing him, Jair Bolsonaro stood frozen, face tense, his hands clasped behind his back nervously holding a sheaf of papers… The gaze of the outgoing president was then lost between floor and ceiling without ever crossing that of his opponent.
The rest of the confrontation was however more balanced. The champion of the far right did not fail to attack Lula on his weak point: the corruption cases, which still tarnish, for a large part of the opinion, the reputation of the PT, in power from 2003 to 2016. .“ There was plenty of corruption in Brazil then! (…) Lula, stay home, enjoy life and don’t come back to the scene of your crime! »snapped a Jair Bolsonaro suddenly more comfortable, familiarizing himself with his opponent and going so far as to touch him on the shoulder.
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