Flavio Bolsonaro mocks Lula's 'nine fingers' in final Brazil debate as polls show the pair tied before Sunday's runoff
From the Newshound archive · first published 23 October 2026 · last updated 24 October 2026.
Lula hit back that he would not let 'a militiaman' call him 'nine fingers', and Flavio Bolsonaro apologised. A Datafolha poll now has them level at 50 per cent each, down from Bolsonaro's 52-48 lead. He won the first round with 47.03 per cent to Lula's 45.16. Since 1989, every first-round winner in Brazil has gone on to become president.
Jailed father Jair, serving 27 years over a coup plot, blessed him: 'Let's go, it's you.'
President Trump has stayed quiet, a silence analysts say helps the Bolsonaro campaign.
Bolsonaro asked Lula, 80, 'Why are things so expensive?' and attacked his 'broken country'.
More
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