Brazil elections: Third-place candidate backs Lula in runoff

• Senator Simone Tebet received 4.2 percent of the vote on Sunday.
• Veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will face far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.
• Tebet lambasted both candidates, saying there was no debate as to which was worse.

The candidate who finished third in the first round of Brazil election endorsed veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for his runoff against far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday.

Center-right Senator Simone Tebet received 4.2 percent of the vote on Sunday, making her the first option of over five million Brazilians whose votes both Lula (48.4 percent) and Bolsonaro (43.2% percent) desire in the runoff on October 30.

Tebet, an anti-abortion Catholic, lambasted ex-president Lula (2003-2010) and Bolsonaro at a news conference in Sao Paulo.

However, she stated there was no debate as to which was worse.

“These past four years, Brazil has been consumed by a bonfire of hate and strife,” she stated, criticizing Bolsonaro for his “denialism” of Covid-19, his pro-gun policies, and the 30 million Brazilians who are hungry.

“I maintain my criticism of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva… but I will give him my vote because I recognize his commitment to democracy and the constitution, which I have never seen from the current president.”

The endorsement occurred after her party, the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), whose leadership was divided between pro-Bolsonaro and pro-Lula camps, told members they may support any candidate they choose.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2002), a politician from the center-right who defeated Lula in the presidential elections in 1994 and 1998, endorsed Lula.

Cardoso tweeted that he would vote for Lula because of his “history of struggle for democracy and social inclusion.”

He shared two photographs of himself and his successor over the years, one in black and white from 1980 and the other in color from more recently.

Lula said, “Thank you for your vote and your trust.”

Ciro Gomes, the center-left candidate who finished fourth in Sunday’s election, reluctantly endorsed Lula on Tuesday (three percent).

Bolsonaro, whose far-right movement made significant gains in Congressional and governor’s races on Sunday, has received endorsements from the governors of Brazil’s three largest states — Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro — as well as the influential ex-judge Sergio Moro, who fought against corruption.

On Wednesday, he added to the list with the support of the governors of Brasilia, Parana, and Goias.

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