“I think you go to sleep thinking about me. You’re in love with me,” Bolsonaro told Vera Magalhães after being asked about Brazil’s Covid19 vaccination rate. “You are a disgrace to journalism in Brazil,” he said.
Magalhães later said Bolsonaro’s attitude was “absolutely out of control, unnecessary and… harmful to himself.” She said she believed Bolsonaro “doesn’t like to be questioned by women.”
Bolsonaro’s insulting comments to Magalhães came after he faced criticism for his attitudes towards women. The farright leader has defended his government’s support for prowomen laws, saying “a lot of women in Brazil love me” because he opposes drug legalization.
Bolsonaro and former president Lula joined four other candidates in what was the first televised debate before the October presidential election. The debate focused on a range of issues including the economy, climate change and the government’s handling of the Covid19 pandemic, but was peppered with personal attacks.
Bolsonaro was forced to be on the defensive over his handling of the economy, the climate crisis and the pandemic. The president claimed Brazil’s economy was “booming,” despite record unemployment under his administration.
Meanwhile, Lula, the most popular candidate according to the latest opinion polls, denied the corruption allegations and defended his innocence.
Lula was convicted of corruption in 2017 and surrendered to federal authorities in April 2018 to begin serving a 12year prison sentence. However, in 2021, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction and allowed him to run for president again.
“I was arrested so that you could be elected president, but then I was found innocent. But now I will win to see at once what you want to hide so much!” Lula said in reference to Bolsonaro’s alleged efforts to hide information and weaken transparency since taking office.
Senator Simone Tebet, of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party and a member of the country’s Covid19 parliamentary commission, accused Bolsonaro of delaying Covid19 vaccines and spreading fake news about the virus, a claim that the president he denied
The other three candidates who participated in the debate were Soraya Thronicke of the Brazilian Union Party, former Finance Minister Ciro Gomes of the Democratic Labor Party and political scientist and writer Luis Felipe D’Avila of the Novo party.
This will be Lula’s sixth candidacy for the presidency with the Brazilian Workers’ Party (PT). He served in the role from 2003 to 2011 and left office with a 90% approval rating after millions of Brazilians were lifted out of poverty during his time in power.
However, his luck didn’t last long. After surviving throat cancer in 2011, da Silva was convicted of corruption and money laundering six years later, charges stemming from a wideranging investigation into state oil company Petrobras.
The first round of Brazil’s presidential vote is scheduled for Oct. 2, and officials have warned that the hotly contested election could spark unrest.
Bolsonaro, who is behind Lula in opinion polls, has repeatedly questioned the country’s electoral process and has particularly criticized the use of electronic ballots, a system that was already in place in 2000. He has also asked the military to do a parallel “public” count of the votes.
Fachin said electoral authorities would not accept interference from the federal government or the Armed Forces, adding that the Organization of American States (OAS) has agreed to be an observer in the Brazilian elections.
CNN’s Camilo Rocha and Marcia Reverdosa reported from São Paulo and Ivana Kottasova wrote from London.