A televised debate among election rivals for mayor of São Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city, descended into chaos when one struggling candidate whacked another with a chair and was expelled.
During Sunday’s debate among six hopefuls, candidate José Luiz Datena, a TV presenter, exploded when opponent Pablo Marçal, a far-right influencer, said Datena was not man enough to hit him as he had previously threatened.
Datena had threatened to hit Marçal in a prior debate when Marçal raised a 2019 complaint of sexual harassment against Datena by a coworker. The coworker withdrew her complaint, but later said she had been intimidated into silence.
In his rage on Sunday, Datena picked up a chair and brought it crashing down on Marçal’s shoulder. Datena, who is polling in fifth place for the Oct. 6 election, was expelled from the debate. Marçal left to get medical attention for a bruised rib, his spokesperson said.
The remaining candidates continued the debate.
Marçal, a political novice whose campaign surged as his vitriolic debate appearances have gone viral, is polling third behind conservative incumbent Ricardo Nunes and his leftist rival Guilherme Boulos.
Nunes and Boulos are running close in the polls, each with about a quarter of voter intentions, according to pollster Datafolha.
A half dozen pollsters announced new surveys to gauge the fallout from Sunday’s debate in the city of 11.5 million people.
Political consultancy Eurasia said it did not expect the incident to have an impact on the race, while another said it could help Datena, who was polling around 6%.
“Most voters had no idea he was a candidate and now everyone is talking about him. He could grow in the polls,” said Andre Cesar at Hold Assessoria Legislativa consultancy. “It was good theater, aimed to help a lagging campaign,” he said.
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