Flavio Bolsonaro’s ‘corrupto’ stunt sparks viral meme before Brazil election runoff

Flávio Bolsonaro durante o debate presidencial televisado do último domingo. Fotografia: Allison Sales/NurPhoto/Shutterstock. Ver imagem em tela cheia. Flávio Bolsonaro durante o debate presidencial televisado do último domingo.

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleTo Flávio Bolsonaro and his publicists, it must have seemed an ingenious idea that would expose his rival’s supposed crookedness on the eve of Brazil’s presidential election.

But the far-right politician’s decision to attend a primetime television debate against his leftwing opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with the word “corrupto” (corrupt) written on the palm of his hand has backfired.

Rather than drawing attention to the incumbent’s alleged misdeeds, many of the programme’s millions of viewers sarcastically took Bolsonaro’s hand-written message as an admission of his own guilt.

Após o debate da noite de domingo, os apoiadores de Lula de todas as classes sociais inundaram as redes sociais com fotografias de suas próprias auto‑descrições gravadas nas palmas das mãos.

John Ulhoa, the guitarist from a pop rock band called Pato Fu, jokingly described himself as a “musician (and a hunk)”.

O comediante premiado com o Emmy, Antonio Tabet, se apresentou aos seus 2,8 milhões de seguidores no X como artista.

Carlos Marcio used both palms to portray himself as a cellist and author.

Carla Emanuela Sacramento, enfermeira obstétrica, postou uma fotografia de si mesma vestida com equipamentos de proteção individual e com as palavras “enfermeira de atenção primária à saúde” escritas orgulhosamente em sua mão direita.

Prominent politicians also jumped on the trend, including Lula’s health minister, the infectious disease specialist Alexandre Padilha, whose palm noted he was a doctor, and Tabata Amaral, who identified as a political scientist and astrophysicist.

All across the country, librarians, oil workers, engineers, journalists, architects, pilots, psychologists, seamstresses, street cleaners, teachers, influencers, and police officers used ballpoint pens to inscribe their professions on to their skin.

Escrevendo no Substack, o especialista em América Latina James Bosworth chamou a façanha de Bolsonaro de “erro crítico” em sua busca por poder.

Bolsonaro, who is the son of the jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro, is a professional politician who has long faced corruption accusations, although he denies them and has never been convicted.

O senador de 45 anos também tem laços bem documentados com membros do submundo da máfia do Rio e já empregou os parentes do mais notório assassino a pagamento da cidade, Adriano da Nóbrega.

Last week two allies were arrested for alleged involvement with the Red Command drug faction, which Donald Trump recently designated a foreign terrorist organisation.

Bolsonaro voiced surprise at those arrests and said the men had the right to prove their innocence.

Na segunda-feira, a mídia brasileira informou que Bolsonaro estava sendo investigado pela Polícia Federal no âmbito de uma investigação de lavagem de dinheiro.

Lula, whose Worker’s party (PT) has also been involved in major corruption scandals, used Sunday’s debate to throw down the gauntlet to Bolsonaro.

The leftwing incumbent said he would give electoral authorities access to his banking and phone recordings, and those of close relatives, in order to prove he was not corrupt – if Bolsonaro agreed to do the same.

Em números

• O comediante premiado com o Emmy, Antonio Tabet, se apresentou aos seus 2,8 milhões de seguidores no X como artista