A televised mayoral debate took a violent turn in São Paulo, as news anchor and mayoral candidate Jose Luiz Datena shocked viewers by attacking his opponent with a chair.
The incident left Pablo Marçal with a fractured rib and a dislocated finger.
He was taken to the hospital after complaining of difficulty breathing.
Moment Brazil mayoral candidate sm@shes opponent
The moment has thrown the race to govern Brazil’s largest city into turmoil.
Marçal had been polling in third place in the race, behind incumbent Mayor Ricardo Nunes and a leftist candidate, Guilherme Boulos.
Leading up to the debate, Marçal said he planned to “destabilize” Datena, who was trailing with just 6% of the vote.
During the debate, Marçal repeatedly brought up s*xual harassment allegations against Datena. Although the allegations were later retracted, the topic struck a nerve with the man.
Datena claimed his opponent, an Instagram influencer, was turning the debate into a spectacle, calling it another one of Marçal’s internet stunts.
But tensions boiled when Datena picked up a chair and slammed it into Marçal’s back.
Marçal later compared the attack to assassination attempts on Donald Trump, asking on Instagram, “Why is there so much hate?”
Marçal’s rise in the polls has largely been driven by his use of social media, where he has more than 13 million followers. São Paulo’s mayoral election is set for early October.