Brazil scraps final election debate as Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro both skip
TV Globo cancelled the final televised debate of Brazil's presidential campaign after frontrunners Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro both withdrew, days before Sunday's first round.
Brazil’s final televised debate of the presidential election was scrapped on Thursday after both frontrunners refused to attend, TV Globo confirmed.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, holding a slight poll lead and absent from every debate this year, appeared on a podcast instead. In July he said: “I don’t go to debates to listen to nonsense. If the debate isn’t helpful to the public, why should I go just to respond to trash talk?” (https://www.lapost.com/content/brazil-s-lula-skips-final-tv-debate-as-rivals-make-last-appeal-to-voters)
Senator Flavio Bolsonaro — eldest son of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro — pulled out of the Globo debate two hours before airtime, accusing the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) of “censorship” (https://bworldonline.com/world/2026/10/02/783896/brazil-elections-final-tv-debate-scrapped-as-lula-flavio-bolsonaro-skip/). On X he wrote: “I have just decided not to go to Globo’s debate due to the censorship imposed on the event by the TSE” (https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/10/02/world/americas-emea/brazils-flavio-bolsonaro-bows-out-of-final-pre-election-debate/2437735), adding: “My only opponent in this campaign is Lula. He’s the one I want to debate.”
The TSE had ruled Globo could not leave an empty chair for Lula’s absence, nor could participants address it — a decision seen by AFP (https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2026/10/02/brazil-s-flavio-bolsonaro-bows-out-of-final-pre-election-debate). TV Globo said it cancelled because the rulings altered the agreed rules.
A Datafolha poll published Thursday evening put Lula at 48% to Bolsonaro’s 45% in a potential 25 October runoff.
Separately, Brazil’s attorney general ordered police to investigate allegations that the Trump administration used US government funds to promote a “far-right agenda” in Brazil (https://www.trtworld.com/article/4e840ef5927d/amp). Lula has made sovereignty a central theme, warning against “meddling” by Trump, who has backed right-wing candidates across Latin America.
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