• Lula blasted Bolsonaro as the “king of fake news.”
• The far-right incumbent finished second in the first-round election on October 2.
• Polls indicated that Lula had a double-digit advantage moving into the runoff.

Two weeks before the Brazilian presidential runoff election, the far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and the leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva engaged in their first-ever head-to-head discussion on Sunday.

Lula blasted Bolsonaro as the “king of fake news,” garnering accusations of lying, corruption, and a “disgraceful” record in return, as the rivals sparred in the first debate preceding their contentious October 30 runoff.

Lula, the flamboyant but tainted ex-president (2003-2010), is attempting a return at the age of 76. He was especially harsh in his criticism of Bolsonaro’s handling of Covid-19, which has killed 687,000 people in Brazil, second only to the United States.

Lula criticized Bolsonaro for his refusal to purchase immunizations and promotion of experimental drugs like hydroxychloroquine, stating that the president “carries the weight of those deaths on his shoulders.”

“Your negligence led to 680,000 people dying when more than half could have been saved,” the former metalworker stated in his signature gravelly tone.

“No other leader in the world played around with the pandemic and with death the way you did.”

In a contentious, free-flowing debate with minimal moderator interference, Bolsonaro, 67, attempted to draw attention to the topic of corruption — a weakness for Lula, who was imprisoned in 2018 on dubious, since-reversed graft accusations.

“Your past is disgraceful… You did nothing for Brazil but stuff public money in your pockets and those of your friends,” Bolsonaro stated.

“Lula, stop lying, it’s bad for you at your age,” the ex-army captain stated at one point, both defending his own record and mocking his opponent’s age.

Jair Bolsonaro, a virulent, hard-line conservative who assumed office in 2019, finished second in the first-round election on October 2 with 43 percent of the vote, trailing Lula’s 48 percent.

However, numerous polls indicated that Lula had a double-digit advantage.

Bolsonaro’s stronger-than-anticipated result has given him an aura of momentum moving into the runoff, and talk has intensified regarding the likelihood of another surprise in two weeks.

According to a poll released on Friday by the Datafolha institute, Lula has received 53 percent of the vote, while Bolsonaro has received 47 percent.

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