Without proposals, debate in São Paulo is marked by insults

The debate between candidates for mayor of São Paulo, held on Sunday night (September 1, 2024) by TV Gazeta in partnership with the channel My Newswas marked by exchanges of barbs. The event, which was attended by Pablo Marcal (PRTB), Ricardo Nunes (MDB), Guilherme Boulos (PSOL), Tabata Amaral (PSB) and Jose Luis Datena (PSDB), from the beginning, deviated into low-level attacks, with participants using pejorative nicknames and leaving the proposals in the background.

The coach, the main target of criticism, called the current mayor of SP “Little Banana”Tabata of “Chatabata” and Boulos of “Boules”, mocking an adaptation of the National Anthem with neutral language made at a rally of the federal deputy.

Nunes, in turn, nicknamed Marçal “PCC’s Tchutchuca”while the PSOL member called the mayor “little nursery thief”. In response, Nunes described Boulos as “little bandit”calling it “invader, shameless and without character”.

The debate resulted in a barrage of requests for the right to reply. The mediator, journalist Denise Campos de Toledo, struggled to maintain order, intervening frequently to avoid heated confrontations, especially between Datena and Marçal. At one point, the presenter tried to confront the influencer more aggressively, but ended up backing down.

The accusations against Marçal and his allies of involvement with organized crime were a recurring theme, dominating the debate. Datena and Tabata joined forces against the coach, focusing on his alleged ties to members of the PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital). “I agree with Tabata in every way”declared the presenter at one point.

“It is a pleasure to be called a bandit by the Communist Consortium of Brazil”said Marçal. “This isn’t a game to see who has the best proposal. It’s to see who can handle this hassle the most. Kiko over here is swearing at me all the time. This is a theater.”“, he said. In addition to “Boules”the businessman also referred to his opponent as “Kiko”.

Here are some of the standout quotes from the debate:

• Neutral language (Marçal to Boulos): “How does it feel to make the biggest fool of yourself in history by singing the national anthem in neutral language? The question is for Boules.”
• Bolsonaro as a lover (Marçal for Nunes): “Are you desperate that his campaign has disintegrated? What is it like to have Bolsonaro as a lover? You have a lover and you like him very much, but you have to hide him from the people. What is your relationship with Bolsonaro like if no Bolsonaro supporter can support you? You, little wimp, are a coward.”
• PCC Tchuchuca (Nunes for Marçal): “Pablito, banana is what you ate in prison, it’s what the Federal Police gave you as a snack in prison. PCC’s Tchutchuca.”
• Consortium of communists (Marçal for Nunes): “They closed the consortium to see if they can stop the championship leader. Stupid.”
• M is a lie (Nunes to Marçal): “We have a guy from M da mentir who is an expert at lying. He lied by sending people emails with pornography and, when they accessed it, he would access people’s accounts […] Today Pablito’s mask falls, for taking money from the most humble and retired people.”
• Like contest (Boulos for Marçal): “There are people who like to shout and attack on the internet. When you need to fill a hole in the street or prune a tree, who is going to do it? Someone committed and prepared or someone who takes this position in the debate? To be mayor of São Paulo, it is not a contest for likes, it cannot be banditry.”
• Invading hearts (Boulos to Nunes): “I’m going to tell the little nursery thief: ‘The only thing we’re going to invade is the hearts of the people of São Paulo’”.
• Heart problems (Datena to Boulos): “If Boulos wants to invade someone’s heart, don’t invade mine, because I have 6 stents.”
• Falling upwards (Marçal to Tabata): “You guys are going to put this PCC thing on me, go to my new Instagram, since you knocked me down. Let me ask you a question, girl: ‘How does it feel to knock someone down and have them fall back up’? This is not a game of who has the best proposal, it’s of who can put up with this hassle the longest. Look at Datena’s face, he just wants to leave.”
• I like vulgarity (Marçal): “I wanted to be polite, but I’m someone from extreme wealth who came from extreme poverty. I like the vulgarity.”
• Chapolin Colorado (Marçal to Boulos): “Boulos’ dream is to see me in the second round. Tarcísio has to keep hiding his wimp. His wimp has already lost. Datena doesn’t want to be a candidate, he’s here to see if he can retire. This is a circus, but no one counted on my cunning.”
• Lowlife (Tabata): “I just regret the vulgarity we are having in this debate. When the men finally come, they don’t want to talk about the proposal.”
• Sport (Marçal to Boulos): “You can look at Boules, he doesn’t play any sport. That’s why he’s a hothead, a sugar eater, he’s proud of being a slow guy.”
• Pre-debate call (Datena to Marçal): “I didn’t know what a bum, a scoundrel, an internet fraudster you are. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have answered the phone and I never want to answer it again. You called me to ask me to beat up Ricardo Nunes and that he was going to beat up Boulos. A risk to democracy.”