‘corrupto’ Written on His Palm Turned Into Self-Mockery: Flávio Bolsonaro Miscalculates on the Eve of the Election

On the eve of the second round of Brazil’s presidential election, right-wing presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro tried to make an accusation with the palm of his hand. During Sunday’s prime-time televised debate, he faced incumbent president Lula and wrote the Portuguese word “corrupto” (corrupt) on his palm, displaying it to the cameras and viewers. According to The Guardian, the debate was watched by millions, but many people did not follow the campaign team’s expectations and instead turned the hand into a kind of confession by Bolsonaro himself.

After the debate, Lula supporters from all walks of life flooded social media, writing their own occupations on one palm or both hands. João Olo, guitarist for the rock band Pato Fu, wrote “musician”; comedian Antônio Tabet described himself as an “artist”; cellist and writer Carlos Máscio used both hands to display his occupation; maternity nurse Carla Emmanuela Sacramento wrote “frontline healthcare nurse.” Alexandre Padilha, the health minister in Lula’s administration, wrote “doctor,” and political scientist and astrophysicist Tabata Amaral also joined in. Teachers, engineers, journalists, pilots, psychologists, tailors, cleaners and police officers also participated. The label of corruption, originally intended as an accusation against his opponent, was rewritten into a series of portraits of professional identities.

Latin America expert James Bosworth called the move a “critical error” in Bolsonaro’s pursuit of power and wrote: “This could have looked like an inspired pre-election gimmick, but instead it left the world with a meme that will accompany his political career.” His advice: “Don’t write ‘corrupto’ on the palm of your hand and then show it to the audience.”

More substantive than the memes was Lula’s demand for reciprocal verification at the same debate. If Bolsonaro agreed to make his bank records and recordings of his phone calls available on the same terms, Lula would allow election authorities to inspect the corresponding records for himself and his close relatives, proving that he was not corrupt. By the time The Guardian published its report, Bolsonaro had not responded.

This brought the competing accusations back to a single standard of verification: neither side can demand that its opponent hand over records while exempting its own. The Workers’ Party, which Lula belongs to, has also been embroiled in major corruption scandals, so his proposal is not a certificate of innocence requiring no verification; it still has to be put into effect through records open to scrutiny by election authorities and the public. Whether Bolsonaro accepts verification on an equal footing has therefore become a test he cannot avoid.

The scrutiny facing Bolsonaro is no lighter. He has long faced corruption allegations, but has denied all of them and has never been convicted. According to The Guardian, Brazilian media reported on Monday that federal police were investigating Bolsonaro in a money-laundering probe. Last week, two of his allies were arrested on suspicion of involvement with the “Red Command” drug gang; Bolsonaro said he was surprised by the arrests and that the two had the right to prove their innocence. No conclusion to the investigation was reported, and the money-laundering inquiry, corruption allegations and suspected drug involvement cannot be presented as established guilt.

The Guardian said polls showed Bolsonaro only narrowly ahead of Lula before the second round; he had won the first round on October 4 by more than 2 million votes. The report did not identify the polling organization, sample or margin of error, and the precise size of his lead could still change. The wave of self-mockery on social media cannot, by itself, be used to quantify its effect on votes, but it has shown that the accusation backfired in public discourse. The “corrupto” in his palm has been rewritten by supporters as professional identities; the real question left unanswered is whether Bolsonaro is willing to accept Lula’s demand for equivalent verification.