Bust-up at Brazil presidential debate as aides must be 'pulled apart'

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Bolsonaro tells female journalist ‘you have a crush on me’ as he launches personal attack during heated Brazilian election debate that saw candidate’s aides come close to blows

  • Brazilian president slammed for ‘misogyny’ after goading TV debate moderator
  • When Vera Magalhaes asked Bolsonaro about spreading Covid vaccine myths, he fumed: ‘You think about me in your sleep, you must have a crush on me’ 
  • Bolsonaro also accused rival Luna of massive corruption
  • His left-wing front-runner rival is far ahead in the polls but put in drab showing

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro last night accused a TV debate moderator of having a crush on him in a fiery first face-off which saw the two frontrunners’ advisers come close to a punch-up.

MP Andre Janones, a prominent backer of left-wing candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, got into a raucous shouting match with the incumbent far-right president’s ex-climate minister Ricardo Salles.

Moments before a fight broke out they were pulled away from each other, according to reports from inside the debate room in Sao Paulo.

Bolsonaro (pictured last night) was met with fierce accusations of sexism after the comments

Their candidates were equally fiery, with Bolsonaro, 67, accusing Lula, 76,  of massive corruption – before audaciously claiming the debate moderator had a ‘crush’ on him.

Vera Magalhaes was at the receiving end of the dicey comment after asking President Bolsonaro about spreading disinformation about Covid vaccines

Bolsonaro sparked outrage with a trademark rant in which he attacked journalist Vera Magalhaes, one of the moderators, for saying he had spread disinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.

‘Vera, you think about me in your sleep, you must have a crush on me or something,’ the incumbent reacted irately.

‘You can’t take part in a debate like this and spread lies and accusations about me. You’re an embarrassment to Brazilian journalism.’

The president, who has been struggling to win over women voters, drew accusations of misogyny on social networks after the episode.

The two frontrunners, who waited until the last minute to confirm they would attend the first televised debate ahead of October’s elections, wasted no time in attacking each other. 

The TV debate studio in Sao Paulo was the scene of bitter fighting on and off-stage last night

Bolsonaro is pictured embracing rival Ciro Gomes in the moments before the first TV debate

Left-of-centre rival Lula Da Silva struggled to make an impression, analysts largely agreed

But Bolsonaro may well have stepped in it one too many times with his latest striking statement

Bolsonaro called Lula a ‘thief’ in his opening salvo of the three-hour clash, pummeling the 76-year-old ex-president over the massive ‘Car Wash’ corruption scandal centered on state-run oil giant Petrobras.

The investigation landed Lula in prison from 2018 to 2019 on controversial corruption charges – annulled by the Supreme Court last year.

‘Your government was the most corrupt in Brazilian history,’ said Bolsonaro, 67, rattling off figures from the scandal in a rapid-fire attack.

‘It was a kleptocracy, a government based on robbery… What do you want to come back to power for? To do the same thing to Petrobras again?’

Lula fired back that Bolsonaro was spreading ‘untruths’ – one of several exchanges in which they accused each other of lying. He in turn accused the incumbent of trashing his legacy of economic growth and anti-poverty initiatives.

‘This country has been destroyed,’ Lula said in his trademark gravelly voice, attacking Bolsonaro over increased poverty and hunger, soaring prices and a surge in the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

Dressing the part in dark suits and ties – striped blue for Bolsonaro, burgundy red for Lula – the front-runners had numerous fiery exchanges, but hewed to the rules and kept their demeanor relatively civilized.

With no audience in the studio, the tension surrounding the debate was especially palpable in the next room, where journalists and politicians followed the debate on a screen.

Lula delivered an underwhelming performance, looking less fiery as the three-hour debate wore on.

‘Lula looked very timid and made mistakes on certain points, falling into some traps,’ said political analyst Andre Cesar of consulting firm Hold.

He gave Bolsonaro the edge in the debate for hitting on his favorite themes, ‘nation, family and freedom.’

‘Bolsonaro was looser, letting out his phrases, laughing,’ Cesar said. ‘In that sense, Bolsonaro won.’

But he added that the incumbent’s attack on the moderator ‘showed that this is who Bolsonaro is – and that might hurt him anyway.’

Lula leads Bolsonaro by 47 percent to 32 percent, according to the latest poll from the Datafolha institute.

If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of valid votes in the first round on October 2, the election will go to a run-off on October 30.

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