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The current state of America’s political system has led to plenty of calls for a return to an era defined by infinitely more decorum and common decency, but an incident that recently unfolded in Brazil shows the United States is far from the only country grappling with some issues on that front.
I’m going to go out on a limb and assume the vast majority of people reading this aren’t intimately familiar with the candidates who are currently in the running to become the next mayor of São Paulo, a race that will end when voters in the largest city in Brazil head to the polls on October 6th.
As things currently stand, there are nine people in the race (including incumbent mayor Ricardo Nunes), and on Sunday, six of those candidates gathered for a televised debate that also featured Pablo Marçal and José Luiz Datena.
Datena is a moderate television news journalist on the Brazilian Social Democracy Party ticket, while the 37-year-old Marçal made a name for himself as a right-wing influencer with a following built on a foundation of self-help advice who earned the endorsement of the Brazilian Labor Renewal Party,
There was already a fair amount of bad blood between the two men heading into the most recent debate, as Datena stepped away from his podium to confront Marçal at his during a heated moment that unfolded when they faced off in another one that was held a couple of weeks prior.
However, that had nothing on what went down when the two men started trading verbal barbs after Datena repeatedly addressed the sexual harassment claims that were levied against Marçal in 2019.
The influencer pushed back against the rhetoric by noting the allegations were eventually rescinded before taking aim at Datena, saying, “You crossed the debate stage recently to slap me. You’re not even man enough to do that,” and things subsequently took a wild turn when his 67-year-old rival hit him with a chair as chaotic scene quickly unfolded.
são paulo mayoral candidate josé luiz datena goes wwe
slamming chair into opponent pablo marçal during debate pic.twitter.com/u78glsE8Gf— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) September 16, 2024
According to The New York Times, Marçal was taken to the hospital to be treated for what his team said was believed to be a broken rib (he also filed a formal complaint with police in São Paulo). Datena, on the other hand, admitted he “lost his cool” but says he has no plans to drop out in the wake of the attack while declining to issue any real apology.