Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro clash over 'nine fingers' insult in final debate

A debate that turned on insults

The final televised debate before the runoff pitted President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against senator Flávio Bolsonaro on Friday, 23 October, in TV Globo's studios in Rio de Janeiro. It started late so that a telenovela could finish and ran for more than two hours. The format was stricter than the first debate on Band, with questions drawn from pre-set topics and each candidate required to stay at the lectern while the other spoke. Both men are technically tied in the polls, and in the first round on 4 October Flávio Bolsonaro took 47% to Lula's 45%. The runoff is on Sunday, 25 October.

Flávio's sharpest line came during a discussion about wages and inflation, when he told Lula:

There is no point, Lula, in the minimum wage being R$1,621 if you give with one hand and take away with nine fingers.

The 'nine fingers' jab referred to the little finger Lula lost in a workplace accident at 17, when he worked as a mechanical turner. Lula asked for the right of reply, demanded an apology from his rival and called him a 'miliciano', a militia member. Flávio then apologised on air, saying he had not wanted to offend Lula.

Lula, if I offended you by calling you nine fingers, I apologise. Truly, I did not want to offend you.

Wages, prices and the fiscal plan

Flávio made the cost of living his central theme, looking into the camera and asking viewers whether their salary had already run out with the month still under way. Lula countered that without the Workers' Party the minimum wage would now be 900 reais, blaming Flávio's father, Jair Bolsonaro, and Michel Temer. He also accused Flávio of planning to cut social programmes and benefits and portrayed him as a candidate of the elite. Flávio's own platform promises a 'tesouraço' in public accounts with cuts 'on all sides', and that plan has drawn scrutiny. Reports said campaign advisers were studying fiscal measures worth about R$250 billion, including decoupling pension and BPC benefit increases from real minimum-wage gains. After a backlash, Flávio said he would not decouple those benefits and would keep increases above inflation, but economists interviewed for the reporting say the two pledges cannot be reconciled because pension spending is one of the largest lines in the federal budget.

Infrastructure, tariffs and crime

On infrastructure, Flávio said Lula's government had turned the country into 'a cemetery of unfinished projects', citing more than 11,000 stalled projects in a report from the audit court (Tribunal de Contas). Lula replied that more had never been invested in infrastructure in the country's history and said more than half of those projects were inherited from Jair Bolsonaro's government. Both candidates pledged to finish large works, with Flávio promising a railway linking western Brazil with the southeast and Lula a highway to Manaus. Lula accused his rival of 'licking the boots' of Donald Trump and of being responsible for 25% tariffs on Brazilian imports, a charge Flávio has repeatedly denied. Flávio also promised that mobile-phone thieves would serve eight years in prison and work while there.

Assessments and what comes next

The reading of the night was mixed. Political scientist Denilde Holzhacker said Lula struggled with the debate rules and at times could not control his time, while Flávio's impatience may have come across as arrogance. El País described Lula as hesitant at the start before putting his rival on the defensive. Flávio moderated his tone, apologised for voting against extending maternity leave, backed zero-fare public transport, promised minimum-wage and pension rises above inflation and denied he would cut social spending. In his closing remarks, Lula said:

If there is anyone in this audience who knows what the working world is, it is me.

Lula framed the Sunday vote as a choice between a militia member governing and the defence of democracy. Flávio Bolsonaro, who topped the first round, will face that choice at the ballot box on Sunday, 25 October.