The Workers’ Party continuously flailing communication

“Hello, everyone. From this Tuesday onwards, we will meet with President Lula for a chat… a light and relaxed conversation,” the journalist Marcos Uchôa said as he launched the debut program of “Talks with the President” this Tuesday. 

The new show draws inevitable (and unflattering) parallels with the weekly Facebook Live broadcasts that Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s first social media president, used to do during his four years in office. For many, it is also reminiscent of “Aló, Presidente,” the long-running, unscripted talk show once hosted by the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Besides being aired on President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s social media channels, the new weekly show will also be broadcast by Brazil’s public television — something not even Mr. Bolsonaro pulled during his time in power. 

Unsurprisingly, Lula only got soft-ball questions designed to make him look good in this week’s opening episode. (The interviewer, a journalist employed by the state television, ran for Congress as a member of the vice president’s party.) For half an hour, Lula talked about football, dating (he got remarried last year), and the art of governing (downplaying his administration’s glaring coalition-building problems).

Lula had a similar radio show during his first two terms in office, between 2003 and 2010. The format has been updated to meet the Bolsonaro model — throughout his presidency, the far-right populist would speak directly to his base through his weekly live broadcasts on social media. 

So far, though, Lula has not been as successful. On YouTube, his weekly debut had 36,000 views in its first three hours online. Mr. Bolsonaro’s audience would sometimes reach millions of views.

In many ways, this new live broadcast epitomizes the struggles that Lula and his Workers’ Party have faced to win over voters through their communication strategy. 

Attempting to “talk to the people”

Upon taking office this year, Lula put former lawmaker Paulo Pimenta, an old Workers’ Party cadre who thinks exactly like him, in charge of the presidential communications secretariat. The government’s online communication...