Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro confirmed Wednesday that he will attend the Band network debate with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, scheduled for Sunday, October 18, a turnaround that clears the way for the first face-to-face encounter of the campaign.

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Less than 24 hours after announcing that he would not participate in Sunday’s debate on Bandeirantes channel, the senator and presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro backed down and confirmed this Wednesday that he will debate with the Worker’s party candidate, Lula da Silva. The event will take place on October 18 at 8 P.M. local time.

Bolsonaro, who had announced the previous day that he would not attend the program, changed his decision after Lula confirmed his presence to expose the differences between the two government projects and allow voters to compare the proposals of both candidates.

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In the recording broadcast on social networks, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro presented his turnaround as a calculated provocation. “Lula, how predictable you are, aren’t you? All it took was for me to say I wasn’t going to take part in the Band debate for you, the next minute, to say you were going. And of course I will be at the debate, I just wanted you to confirm it,” he said.

The challenge did not stop there. “I am going to rub the truth in your face and refute you live for millions of Brazilians; I’ll be waiting for you at the Band debate, Lula,” Bolsonaro added.

Seus dias na presidência espalhando mentiras estão contados!

Vou esfregar a verdade na tua cara, Lula! Me aguarde…

PARTIDO LIBERAL – CNPJ 68.581.907/0001-25 – PROPAGANDA ELEITORAL#Debate #Band #FlavioBolsonaro #Vote22 pic.twitter.com/1HtXSieesp

— Flávio Bolsonaro (@FlavioBolsonaro) October 14, 2026

The meeting, organized by the chain Bandeirantes, comes one week from the start scheduled for October 25 and will be the first time in this campaign that both face to face.

Tuesday’s Opposite Stance

On Tuesday, Bolsonaro’s position had been the opposite. After an event of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), the senator gave reporters a brief refusal. “I’m not going, it’s not planned to attend that debate on Sunday,” he said, adding that his attendance at the October 23 Globo debate would depend on what his technical team decides.

The turnaround came after Lula confirmed that he would attend the program. For his part, Lula had confirmed his presence the same day, also by video. “I hope my opponent shows up so that the people know the differences between programs and candidacies. I will be there,” he said.

Band kept the event on the calendar despite the initial resistance of the Liberal Party’s candidate and had announced it would leave the absent candidate’s lectern empty throughout the broadcast. With Wednesday’s confirmation, the set will have both contenders.

ELEIÇÕES 2026 | Flávio diz que não vai a debate Band/Estadão e Lula confirma presença. Encontro entre presidenciáveis está agendado para o domingo, dia 18, na sede da emissora do Morumbi.
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🔗 Acompanhe a cobertura completa das eleições em https://t.co/WqM2KrEbmL pic.twitter.com/az5mBZJnNl

— Estadão 🗞️ (@Estadao) October 13, 2026

A Campaign of Cancellations

Neither candidate attended a debate before the first round. Band’s August 23 debate was held without the frontrunners, and those called by a media consortium on September 14 and by Record on September 23 were canceled because no one confirmed attendance.

The October 1 Globo debate also fell through. Lula said on September 30 that he would not attend, and Bolsonaro, who had promised to show up even without his rival, withdrew about two hours before airtime. He blamed what he called “censorship” imposed, in his version, by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), whose justice Estela Aranha had barred the network from keeping the lectern reserved for the president on the set.

According to the Superior Electoral Court, in the first round on October 4 Bolsonaro won 56.1 million votes, or 47.03% of valid votes, and Lula 53.9 million, or 45.16%.

This Sunday’s debate will be the first in which Bolsonaro and Lula of the leftist Workers’ Party (PT) face off, given that none participated in the media clashes before the first round. Another debate is still scheduled for October 23 at Globo, two days before the election, the most influential TV network in the South American country.

With the balloting set for October 25, the results show a competitive contest after a first round in which the difference was also tight. In this scenario, the televised debate scheduled for Sunday represents a new instance for the two aspirants to present their positions to the Brazilian electorate.