Bolsonaro, Lula Go on Attack in Debate on Eve of Brazil Vote
- Leading candidates trade barbs early on in televised meeting
- Lula leads polls by wide margin before Oct. 2 first-round vote
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva traded insults in a televised debate that marked their final face off before Sunday’s election, with polls giving the opposition leader a wide lead.
The men went on the attack from the get-go, with Bolsonaro calling Lula a “liar,” “ex-convict” and “gang leader.” The comments drew a fiery response from the 76-year-old Lula, who lobbied his own accusations of corruption at Bolsonaro, saying the president “needs to look in the mirror and know what’s happening in his own government.”