In debate after ‘chairing’, candidates isolate Marçal, who

The debate between the candidates for Mayor of São Paulo this Tuesday (17) lived up to expectations of tension between the mayoral candidates, led once again by Pablo Marçal (PRTB), mainly in the first block.

At the event promoted by UOL and RedeTV!the former coach increased his investment in attacks on the other candidates in an attempt to sell himself to the electorate as an isolated name, different from the other mayoral candidates. Once again, he spoke of a “communist consortium” and the existence of a candidate in an alleged “drug situation”.

Marçal also spoke of an “attempted murder” in relation to an attack carried out by José Luiz Datena (PSDB) at the last meeting, held by TV Cultura. At the time, the television presenter hit the former coach with a chair after being accused of having committed sexual harassment in the past, without evidence.

Regarding this, Datena stated that he would not hit a “coward” twice. “To talk to you, who accused me of a heinous crime without proof, the only way is through justice. You will answer in court for the insults you made against me. I would not hit a coward twice. A coward only gets hit once. Many lawyers have already considered what you did to me to be legitimate defense of honor. What you did is very low, which is your level,” said the presenter.

The other candidates relied on the strategy of avoiding the former coach’s provocations. In this scheme, the attempt to present themselves as different from the other candidates backfired, as Marçal was often left talking to himself.

Before that, however, the candidates also adopted the tactic of disqualifying Marçal. Tabata Amaral (PSB) stated that he has been “attacking the honor and offending the candidates and the population for months” and recalled the accusation that the former coach made against the federal deputy, of having contributed to the death of the parliamentarian’s father.

“He told a dirty lie about my father, saying that I was to blame for my father’s death. He lies, he attacks, because he makes money from it. It was like that in Angola, it was like that with the coup he carried out. It’s like that with the cuts he makes. He says that the poor like to be vulgar. I’m from the outskirts and there’s one thing I learned at home, it was respect,” said Amaral.

Candidate Guilherme Boulos (PSOL) stated that Marçal “lives on lies, attacks, lies and then gets hit with a chair”. The PSOL candidate also said that he would not fall for his opponent’s provocations, “because his provocation has an expiration date. It only lasts three weeks”.

Current mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB) joined his opponents in stating that Marçal’s behavior justifies the rejection of the former coach recorded in the polls. According to the Datafolha poll released on the 12th, Marçal has the highest rejection rate among voters, with 44%. In relation to the last survey, the former coach rose six percentage points.

“It’s no wonder you’re the most rejected. Your desperation doesn’t justify all this aggression. I’m not going to fall for your trick. In fact, you already have a history of tricks. Your rejection is only increasing, and you’re falling in the polls. He got out of jail, but jail didn’t leave him. The way he’s been treating people is the way people treat each other in jail,” said Nunes.

At that moment, the clash between the two intensified with Marçal calling Nunes a “PCC jerk” and saying that he would put the current mayor in “jail if elected”. The conflict generated a warning for both.

Proposals

In the other blocks, the candidates reduced the tension and brought more proposals. Nunes spoke about the Cadastro Único (Unified Registry) campaigns, through which people can access social programs, and about free bus passes for mothers with children enrolled in municipal daycare centers.

Datena, in turn, spoke about the expansion of free passes for all Bolsa Família beneficiaries and the review of contracts with companies that currently manage bus transportation in São Paulo.

Boulos mentioned two programs in the health area: the creation of Poupatempo da Saúde and Mais Médicos, a program for rapid recruitment. The municipal program would be formed by specialized professionals, instead of general practitioners, as is the case nationwide.

Tabata Amaral spoke about implementing a mental health team in each Basic Health Unit (UBS) and what she called “Rampa”, the Support Network for Atypical Mothers in São Paulo, including psychological assistance for these mothers.

The chair

In his defense regarding the accusation of sexual harassment raised by Marçal on Sunday (15), Datena stated that the Court closed the case due to lack of evidence and that the woman who accused him publicly retracted her statement in court.

“It was an accusation in which the police saw no evidence. The person who accused me publicly retracted his statement and apologized to me and my family,” he said. He also stated that the accusations contributed to the death of his mother-in-law “by slander and defamation, after three strokes.” [Acidente Vascular Cerebral]”.

Before the attack, Marçal had even used the word “rapist” to refer to the case. “A man is a man, a woman is a woman, a rapist is different, right?”, he said, quoting a part of the song by the São Paulo rap group Racionais MC’s. “I want to know if you touched her vagina, how was this sexual harassment issue?” said the candidate.

Upon arriving at the debate space on Tuesday, Datena told the press that these events need to be spaces for discussing ideas, and not for “personal attacks”.

Marçal arrived in a bellicose tone when dealing with the reporter UOLDiego Sarza, rudely. The journalist said that the candidate would not speak to the press at the beginning of the event due to the short time until the debate began. Marçal then returned, stating that he would speak at the end, and asked for the information to be corrected, in an aggressive tone.

Moment when Marçal acts aggressively towards the UOL reporter / Reproduction/UOL

Marçal also refused to drink the water offered by the organization to all candidates for fear of some kind of poisoning. He even refused to address the candidates by name, using derogatory words, such as “bananinha” to speak to the current mayor Ricardo Nunes.

Other clashes

Boulos and Nunes also clashed when discussing Bill 2622/2024, authored by PSOL deputies, which proposes amnesty for those accused and convicted of the crime of acquiring, storing, having in storage, transporting or bringing with them up to 40g of marijuana, or six female plants for personal use.

Nunes stated that Boulos supports the legalization of drugs, to which the PSOL member responded by saying that he is in favor of differentiating between drug users and drug dealers, following the understanding of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). “The truth is fundamental. He lathers up and does not respond. His party proposes to release 42 thousand drug dealers who are in prison. He turns around and does not respond,” said Nunes.

“This lie by Ricardo Nunes explains a lot about the vulgarity [entre Nunes e Marçal]. Not even when I was teaching high school was there such inappropriate behavior,” replied the PSOL member.

At another point, Marina Helena (Novo) accused Tabata Amaral of using private jets to visit her partner, the mayor of Recife (PE), João Campos (PSB), last year. “Who paid? And whose plane was that?” Marina Helena asked her, who denied the accusations: “I have never taken a private jet trip to visit my boyfriend. (…) This is delusional. This delusion is serious. With all due respect, wait for a lawsuit,” said Amaral.

Editing: Martina Medina