Flávio Bolsonaro and Lula cite false, exaggerated and out-of-context information in the Globo debate

The TV Globo debate between President Lula (PT) and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) on Friday night (23) delivered a series of inaccurate statements to voters, according to checks by Agência Lupa. The verifications were published during the confrontation by Folha.

Of the 35 sentences analyzed, 20 were false, exaggerated or out of context, according to Cristina Tardáguila, founder of Lupa. Only 11 statements contained facts that, after investigation, were considered true. "The debate was marked by a large volume of inadequate information", says Cristina.

Topics about the economy, online games and health are among the statements presented without support in facts. The agency will continue analyzing the candidates' speeches this Saturday (24), the day before the second round of the presidential election. The complete checks are on the Lupa website.

Flávio Bolsonaro said during the program that Lula is "Tigrinho's father". The PT member accused the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) of having allowed internet betting games in the country. The fact is that Brazilian legislation authorized the activity in 2018, under the government of Michel Temer (MDB).

Flávio also said that the recording that shows his father imitating people short of breath during the Covid pandemic was taken out of context. The check classified Flávio's speech as false.

The senator also stated that current inflation has reduced the weight of chocolate bars from 120 grams to 80 grams. But companies were already selling 80-gram packages in 2022, under Jair Bolsonaro's administration.

Lula also made a mistake when citing economic data. The candidate also said that the country's economy had not grown above 3% since the end of his second term, in 2010. The Brazilian GDP (Gross Domestic Product) grew 3.9% in 2011 and 3% in 2013, during the administration of Dilma Rousseff (PT).

The president declared that he eradicated hunger in the country in 2012. But the United Nations only removed Brazil from the Hunger Map in 2014, without considering that the problem had been completely eliminated.

Cristina Tardáguila states that checking speeches is not intended to produce rankings of false and true information said by candidates. "This is unproductive. What matters now is not the trophy of the most true or false. The important thing is that the citizen knows the truth about the fact discussed in the debate", he says.