A Sao Paulo mayoral candidate is being treated in hospital after a rival attacked him with a chair

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A candidate in the race for mayor of São Paulo was treated in a hospital and released Monday after one of his five rivals hit him with a metal chair during a televised debate following allegations of sexual misconduct.

Pablo Marçal, a personal development influencer turned right-wing politician, referred to the allegations against José Luiz Datena, a former television presenter and current candidate, during Sunday night’s debate, saying that Datena had wanted to slap him, adding: “You’re not even man enough to do that.”

Datena, who denies the allegations, then approached Marçal’s podium with the chair over his head and hit him in Marçal’s side as he raised his arms. The moderator of the TV Cultura debate then quickly interrupted them and switched to commercials, and the debate continued later on Sunday evening without Marçal.

Marçal’s team shared a video showing him being taken to hospital by ambulance while receiving ventilation. He explained on social media on Monday that he felt pain when breathing and suffered a fracture at the bottom of his ribcage.

Marçal “suffered trauma to the right chest area and right wrist, without major complications,” the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital said in a statement on Monday, adding that he had been discharged.

A video on social media shows a doctor talking to Marçal in a hospital bed, telling him he has “a small fracture line.” Marçal described the incident on social media as an “attempted murder,” comparing it to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump earlier this year and the stabbing attack on former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in the run-up to the 2018 presidential election.

Marçal has turned his internet following and fiery rhetoric into a political movement whose poll numbers have soared in recent months and who is now neck and neck with incumbent Ricardo Nunes and leftist lawmaker Guilherme Boulos, bringing even more attention to the race for mayor of Brazil’s biggest city.

An investigation into Datena’s alleged misconduct never resulted in charges and was closed when the plaintiff retracted her statements.

Speaking to reporters after the debate, Datena explained that the incident was particularly painful for him because he believes it was the reason his mother-in-law suffered a series of strokes and died.

On Monday, Datena said in a statement that he had made a mistake but did not regret it “at all.”

“If the circumstances were the same, I would not hesitate to repeat this gesture. It would be an extreme reaction to the history of aggression that my opponent has committed against me and many others,” he said in his statement.

Marçal’s campaign team said the debate should not have continued without him and hopes that appropriate legal action will be taken against Datena.

A statement from São Paulo Public Security said the incident was registered as “assault and insult” at a local police station on Sunday evening, indicating that an investigation was underway.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva supports Boulos. Bolsonaro supported Nunes, but many of the former president’s supporters have rallied behind Marçal because they are fascinated by his personality.