Datena’s shuttle in politics has already included Bolsonaro and Doria – 12/06/2023 – Power

After discussing the formation of a ticket with federal deputy Guilherme Boulos (PSOL-SP) for the 2024 municipal elections in São Paulo, presenter José Luiz Datena is tipped to be deputy to federal deputy Tabata Amaral (PSB-SP).

On Monday (4), Márcio França (PSB), Minister of Entrepreneurship and Microenterprise, released a photo of the presenter with Tabata and celebrated the rapprochement between them.

Datena’s career is marked by political movements that ended up not resulting in actual candidacies.

He has already flirted with different politicians, of different ideologies, and joined parties of different spectrums. Now, he admitted the possibility of joining the PSB after leaving the PDT last month.

See some of Datena’s back-and-forth moments in politics.

Tabata Amaral (PSB)

Datena is listed as Tabata Amaral’s vice-president in the race for Mayor of São Paulo in 2024. On Monday, minister Márcio França posted a photo with Tabata and Datena and celebrated their rapprochement with the expression “fire in the playground”.

France told the Sheet that a union between Tabata and Datena would change the dispute, as it considers the communicator to be a strong “national name”.

“If he decides to be a candidate, it will be a blockbuster. He will unbalance the dispute,” França told the Panel column.

According to Tabata, there was, on Monday, a reiteration that Datena would be his deputy. The communicator confirmed that there is a possibility of joining the PSB, but did not discuss his plans. He was affiliated with the PDT until last month. The party was working with the possibility of him becoming a pre-candidate for mayor in 2024.

Guilherme Boulos (PSOL)

In April this year, a recording circulated on social media in which Datena and pre-candidate Guilherme Boulos talked about a possible partnership to run for Mayor of São Paulo.

In the video, Datena asks Boulos to “support” the PT to guarantee the ticket. “If you support the PT and we are candidates, if you tell Lula: I want Datena as vice-president and I’m sorry, we can leave”, says the presenter in the recording.

Boulos says that his vice-president will be chosen by the PT, due to an agreement with the party defined in 2022.

After the video was released, Datena denied having asked to be vice president and called whoever made the meeting public a “scumbag.”

Ciro Gomes (PDT)

Datena was tipped to be vice president of Ciro Gomes in the last presidential elections. The presenter spoke about the possibility one day after confirming his name as a candidate for the Senate.

At the time, Ciro stated that the door was open for the two to continue forming the ticket, but the negotiation did not go ahead.

Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans)

Also in the last elections, Datena evaluated the chance of running for the Senate with the support of then president Jair Bolsonaro on the ticket of the current governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans). At the time, Datena was from the PSC.

Bolsonaro even told supporters that he had “closed with Datena”. Hours after the former president declared his support, the presenter withdrew from the dispute.

PT

Datena was already a member of the PT for 23 years, from 1992 to 2015. The old link with the party generated resistance from Bolsonaro supporters when the presenter tried to garner Bolsonaro’s support.

At the time, the PT even stated that the politician would not be missed after his disaffiliation. “He won’t be missed, as he doesn’t have the party’s profile; he has a different thought, a different conduct, he never attended party meetings”, declared councilor Jorge Parada, at the time president of the PT of Ribeirão Preto, the city in which the presenter had registered the affiliation.

The presenter has already publicly declared that his last vote in presidential elections was given to Lula, in 2002. The presenter stated that he justified his vote in other elections.

In 2018, federal deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) already criticized the presenter due to the possibility of him running for DEM (the party that later became União Brasil). “José Luiz Datena was a member of the PT between 1992 and 2015. He remained a member for TEN YEARS after the outbreak of Mensalão. Now he wants our vote? He won’t have it.”, Zambelli stated at the time.

Datena also withdrew from the dispute in that election, when she recorded a video praising Geraldo Alckmin, then PSDB presidential candidate.

João Doria (PSDB)

In 2021, Datena had stated that she would support João Doria (at the time of the PSDB) for the following year’s presidential contest. He also said that he would support the nomination of Rodrigo Garcia, by the same party, for the Government of São Paulo.

At the time, the presenter was announced by PSDB and União Brasil as a pre-candidate for the position of senator. When João Doria gave up running for President of the Republic, Datena called the decision a betrayal.

“Doria made the wrong move again, he is no longer the one betrayed by the PSDB and betrays Rodrigo Garcia. Consequently, I no longer have any commitment to this ticket”, he said at the time.

The then governor backed down and maintained his candidacy, but ended up giving up for good months later.