Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and incumbent Jair Bolsonaro exchanged insults and corruption allegations during a tense televised debate as they sought to sway voters ahead of a runoff election on Oct. 30.
The event organized by Band TV was the first time the two leading candidates met alone face to face, giving them plenty of time to attack each other as they didn’t have to share airtime with five other contestants who joined debates before the first-round vote of presidential elections on Oct. 2.
It was a key moment for candidates to reach millions of voters in the final stretch of a tight presidential election, when every vote counts. Both have rushed to secure the backing of contestants who didn’t make it to the second round, as well as key state governors and mayors who may rally supporters in their states and municipalities. Over the past week, Lula and Bolsonaro crisscrossed Brazil’s Northeast to court poor voters.
