São Paulo mayoral candidate hits opponent with chair during TV debate

BRAZIL – A shocking scene. On Sunday, September 15, the televised debate that brought together the candidates for the municipal elections in São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, turned violent. As you can see in our video at the top of the articlethe social democrat and TV journalist José Luiz Datena, attacked his far-right opponent Pablo Marçal, hitting him with a chair live on air.

The latter, a 37-year-old former coach, has become a conservative influencer with several million followers on social networks. Considered the outsider of this election, Pablo Marçal is neck and neck in the polls, with Ricardo Nunes, the right-wing candidate supported by the country’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, and the left-wing candidate Guilherme Boulos, supported by the current president Lula.

What sparked José Luiz Datena’s ire was none other than a remark by Pablo Marçal referring to a complaint of sexual harassment that was filed against him in 2019, before being dropped. The conservative influencer then accused his rival of not being a ” man “ to hit him.

Admitted to hospital after this incident, Pablo Marçal did not hesitate to capitalize on this event by staging on his networks his transport to the hospital or comparing the event to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. The next day, during a crowd bath, his supporters were even seen brandishing chairs as a symbol.

As for José Luiz Datena, he said he lost his cool and made a mistake, but he does not regret his actions. The candidate intends to stay in the race for mayor of São Paulo.

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