Two weeks before the runoff election for the presidential office in Brazil, the right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and the left-wing ex-head of state Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made serious accusations against each other in their first direct television debate.

In the debate on the Brazilian broadcaster TV Bandeirantes, Lula accused Bolsonaro of serious omissions in the corona pandemic. Bolsonaro, on the other hand, attacked Lula over corruption during his tenure from early 2003 to late 2010. "Your past is unfortunate," he said, urging the 76-year-old to stop lying.

In the first round of voting on October 2, Bolsonaro did better than polls had predicted. Before the runoff against Lula on October 30, the race is now wide open again. Both candidates are currently fighting for every vote in an election campaign marked by accusations and are trying to win over individual social, societal and religious groups to their side.

Lula said during the TV debate on Bolsonaro: "Your negligence resulted in the deaths of 680,000 people, more than half of whom could have been saved." He added: "No government in the world has played with the pandemic and death like you have. Don't you carry some of the suffering of Brazilians on your shoulders?" Lula called 67-year-old Bolsonaro the "King of Fake News".

Bolsonaro had downplayed the corona virus and also questioned the benefits of the vaccination. He is accused of turning down and delaying the purchase of corona vaccines. In addition, Bolsonaro repeatedly lacked compassion for the victims' families. Approval for Bolsonaro continued to fall as the pandemic progressed.