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7h ago

Frontrunners Skip First Televised Debate, Leaving Empty Podiums and Fierce Attacks

The absence of Lula and Flávio turned the Band event into a theater of accusations, theatrical stunts and hardline security vows, with polls showing the race still narrowly divided.

Santa Catarina tem 230 candidatos à Câmara; 14 buscam reeleição
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Overview

  • The Band debate on Sunday, Aug. 23, went ahead with only Ronaldo Caiado, Renan Santos and Augusto Cury after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Flávio Bolsonaro and Romeu Zema declined to attend.
  • Debate participants repeatedly addressed the empty podiums and used the stage to revive corruption allegations including INSS diversion, Banco Master/Daniel Vorcaro links and questions about Fábio Luís 'Lulinha'.
  • Speakers escalated security rhetoric and personal insults, with Renan promising extreme measures against criminal factions and using vitriolic language that many outlets described as theatrical.
  • Backstage moments — including a diaper gag aimed at the absentees, an on-camera threat by Cury to withdraw and PSD leader Gilberto Kassab dozing in the audience — shaped post-debate coverage and social clips.
  • New polls released the day after the debate show a tightly divided race with Nexus/BTG and Real Time Big Data reporting near-ties or local leads for Flávio in São Paulo, indicating no clear shift in voter preferences but potential regional variance.