Marçal publishes apology to Malafaia and says that the election in São Paulo ‘has already been decided’

São Paulo mayoral candidate Pablo Marçal (PRTB) published this Tuesday, 10, on his social media a video apologizing and saying he “has respect” for pastor Silas Malafaia, organizer of the pro-Bolsonaro rally that took place on Avenida Paulista last Saturday, 7.

“I apologize to you, Silas, because you organized, you have put your face out there, you know the respect I have for you, but here in São Paulo it has already been decided,” said the former coach, referring to the result of the municipal elections in the capital of São Paulo.

On September 7, the candidate arrived at the end of the event and was prevented from getting on Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) float. According to Malafaia, Marçal avoided participating earlier because he was afraid of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), the main target of attacks during the event.

To the Statethe pastor called the former coach a “sucker” and stated that he tried to “seal the deal” with the episode.

Bolsonaro, with whom the former coach had been trying to get closer in recent weeks, was bothered by Marçal’s attitude and said that the candidate wanted to “make a platform at the expense of others” and that he was prevented from joining the trio “for obvious reasons”.

The former president also published a video on his Telegram broadcast list classifying the PRTB candidate as a “traitor”, “swindler” and “profiteer”.

In the video posted on his social media, Marçal lamented not having arrived on time for the event and stated that it would be a “trick” if he said he would attend the event and then didn’t. He recalled that he was returning from a trip to El Salvador and that was why he arrived to “Bolsonaro’s thank you.”

“If I said I would go and couldn’t get there on time, I would be a jerk. I went. Unfortunately, as someone from Central America, I arrived to Bolsonaro’s ‘thank you’. I regret it, I wish I had arrived earlier,” the candidate pondered.

On Saturday, Marçal landed by helicopter near Paulista Avenue, walked through the crowd, signed autographs for supporters and, when the event was over, tried to get on the float where Bolsonaro was, but was stopped. Due to the trip, the candidate kept his participation in the event a secret throughout the week.

The former coach also told the religious leader to help Alexandre Ramagem (PL) in the Rio de Janeiro elections. “Help Ramagem for us [sic] don’t lose the election with Ramagem, otherwise the first round will go to Paes”.

In the latest Datafolha poll, published on September 5, Ramagem appears with 11% of voting intentions, while Mayor Eduardo Paes (PSD), who is seeking reelection, has 59%.