The race to lead São Paulo, Latin America’s largest city, has been transformed in recent weeks by the brash candidacy of a right-wing self-help coach who has soared in the polls while getting under his opponents’ skin with harsh and sometimes misleading attacks.
In a live, televised mayoral debate between six candidates on Sunday, that candidate, Pablo Marçal, was at it again, calling José Luiz Datena, an anti-crime television journalist, a vulgar insult and bringing up sexual harassment accusations against him that were later dropped.
“You crossed the debate stage recently to slap me,” Mr. Marçal said, referring to an earlier debate, in which Mr. Datena got close to Mr. Marçal. “You’re not even man enough to do that.”
He then looked to his right and, from offscreen, Mr. Datena came swinging an iron chair, striking Mr. Marçal over his back.
It was a stunning moment even for the often outrageous political antics of Brazil — one candidate assaulting another on live television — and a show of political violence that was likely to reorder the country’s biggest election this year.
Mr. Marçal quickly capitalized, posting multiple videos on social media after the attack, including a dramatized clip of him being rushed to the hospital and breathing with the help of an oxygen mask. He also posted from the hospital, clad in a hospital gown with an arm sling.
Although the facility did not release details about his injuries, Mr. Marçal’s team initially said that he was believed to have broken a rib and had difficulty breathing. A video from inside the debate hall after the attack showed him and Mr. Datena standing and yelling at one another.
Mr. Marçal has shaped his political style in the mold of other brazen right-wing leaders like Donald J. Trump and former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. On Sunday night, he also posted an image of the chair attack alongside photos of July’s assassination attempt against Mr. Trump and a stabbing that Mr. Bolsonaro suffered during his 2018 campaign. “Why all the hate?” he wrote.
He initially called the incident “attempted murder.” But as he left the hospital on Monday morning, he said that he had suffered just a “bump.”
Mr. Marçal’s team said it had filed a police report about the incident.
One Instagram follower asked Mr. Marçal in a comment whether it was worth being attacked to run for mayor. “It will be worth it,” he replied.
Mr. Marçal is locked in a three-way tie for first place in the polls to lead São Paulo, one of the world’s largest cities, with 11.5 million people. The first round of voting is scheduled for Oct. 6.
Mr. Datena, a centrist who became famous for hosting a television show that reports on crime across Brazil, is in fifth place, with just 7 percent of voters saying they intend to cast ballots for him.
The other leading candidates include the current right-wing mayor, Ricardo Nunes, who was endorsed by Mr. Bolsonaro; and Guilherme Boulos, a leftist congressman endorsed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Following the episode, Mr. Datena said that “he lost his cool,” but stopped short of apologizing and said he would remain in the race. “I made a mistake, but I don’t regret it in any way,” he said.
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