Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro trade corruption barbs in fiery first runoff debate on Band

A night of fireworks

On Sunday night, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro held their first face-to-face televised debate ahead of the runoff, in the Band studios in São Paulo. The two called each other "liars" repeatedly, clashing over corruption allegations, judicial investigations involving family members and security policy, with frequent interruptions and few detailed policy proposals.

Flávio vows 'war on narcoterrorism'

Flávio promised to "declare war on narcoterrorism" if elected, seeking to label groups such as the PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital) and Comando Vermelho as narcoterrorist organizations to justify tougher policing. He also dragged Lula's past corruption convictions — handed down at every court level and later annulled — onto the stage, demanding: "You were convicted at every level, and then your friends threw out your conviction, and YOU want to talk about JUSTICE?"

Lula hits back: Milei-style cuts and R$134 million

Lula pressed his opponent on whether he would emulate Argentine President Javier Milei's drastic public-spending cuts, taunting: "My opponent only knows about buses from books. He has never even stepped foot on one. He has no idea what the world of work is like." He demanded answers on the R$134 million linked to the Vorcaro case and defended his son Lulinha. On his father's handling of the Covid pandemic, Flávio conceded: "That wasn't an area where we saw the best results during Bolsonaro's presidency. I'll offer a mea culpa here."

Legal shadows and the state of the race

The debate also surfaced the Federal Police's request for the Supreme Court to open a money-laundering investigation into Flávio (linked to lawyer Willer Tomaz) — a legal risk that would sharpen if he loses his senatorial immunity after the runoff. Lula even appealed to former president Jair Bolsonaro, now serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for a botched coup: "Vote for me, Bolsonaro, you know your son, you know I'm better than him." Flávio won the first round with 47% to Lula's 45%; the runoff is October 25, and the next debate airs October 23 on TV Globo. During the debate, right-wing militants rallied on São Paulo's Paulista Avenue while pro-Lula demonstrations took place in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília.