Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro confirmed Wednesday that he will attend the Band network debate with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, scheduled for Sunday, October 18, a turnaround that clears the way for the first face-to-face encounter of the campaign.
Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the Liberal Party (PL) candidate, announced his decision in a video posted on social media.
In the recording, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro presented his turnaround as a calculated provocation.
RELATED: Lula’s Digital Campaign Restructures its Communications Leadership in Brazil
“Lula, how predictable you are, aren’t you? All it took was for me to say I wasn’t going to take part in the Band debate for you, the next minute, to say you were going. And of course I will be at the debate, I just wanted you to confirm it,” he said.
The challenge did not stop there. “I am going to rub the truth in your face and refute you live for millions of Brazilians; I’ll be waiting for you at the Band debate, Lula,” Bolsonaro added.
Seus dias na presidência espalhando mentiras estão contados!
Vou esfregar a verdade na tua cara, Lula! Me aguarde…
PARTIDO LIBERAL – CNPJ 68.581.907/0001-25 – PROPAGANDA ELEITORAL#Debate #Band #FlavioBolsonaro #Vote22 pic.twitter.com/1HtXSieesp
— Flávio Bolsonaro (@FlavioBolsonaro) October 14, 2026
Tuesday’s Opposite Stance
On Tuesday, Bolsonaro’s position had been the opposite. After an event of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), the senator gave reporters a brief refusal. “I’m not going, it’s not planned to attend that debate on Sunday,” he said, adding that his attendance at the October 23 Globo debate would depend on what his technical team decides.
**Lula had confirmed his presence the same day, also by video. “**I hope my opponent shows up so that the people know the differences between programs and candidacies. I will be there,” he said.
Band kept the event on the calendar despite the initial resistance of the Liberal Party’s candidate and had announced it would leave the absent candidate’s lectern empty throughout the broadcast. With Wednesday’s confirmation, the set will have both contenders.
ELEIÇÕES 2026 | Flávio diz que não vai a debate Band/Estadão e Lula confirma presença. Encontro entre presidenciáveis está agendado para o domingo, dia 18, na sede da emissora do Morumbi.
🔗 Acompanhe a cobertura completa das eleições em https://t.co/WqM2KrEbmL pic.twitter.com/az5mBZJnNl— Estadão 🗞️ (@Estadao) October 13, 2026
A Campaign of Cancellations
If the debate goes ahead, it will be the first televised face-off of the campaign. Neither candidate attended a debate before the first round. Band’s August 23 debate was held without the frontrunners, and those called by a media consortium on September 14 and by Record on September 23 were canceled because no one confirmed attendance.
The October 1 Globo debate also fell through. Lula said on September 30 that he would not attend, and Bolsonaro, who had promised to show up even without his rival, withdrew about two hours before airtime. He blamed what he called “censorship” imposed, in his version, by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), whose justice Estela Aranha had barred the network from keeping the lectern reserved for the president on the set.
According to the Superior Electoral Court, in the first round on October 4 Bolsonaro won 56.1 million votes, or 47.03% of valid votes, and Lula 53.9 million, or 45.16%.
Eleven days remain until the October 25 runoff. If neither contender backs out again, Sunday’s debate will offer the first direct comparison of the two platforms before millions of Brazilians. The Globo face-off on October 23 would follow.
From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.