Joice Hasselmann says “she is not from the stupid and extremist right”

After failing to be re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2022, Joice Hasselmann (no party) is eyeing one of the council seats in São Paulo. The former federal deputy became the most voted woman in the Chamber in 2019, but accumulated defeats after breaking up with the former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

In 2019, Hasselmann obtained more than 1 million votes and was chosen by the former president to be government leader in the House. A year later, after differences with the Bolsonaro family, she left the PSL (currently União Brasil) to join the PSDB. In 2020, the parliamentarian tried to be mayor of São Paulo and came in seventh place, with around 100 thousand votes. In 2022, in an attempt to be re-elected to the Chamber, she received only 13,679 votes, a drop of 98.7% compared to 2018.

In an interview with People’s Gazettethe former parliamentarian shared expectations for possible next steps in politics.

“I haven’t decided whether I’m going to run as a candidate or not, what I’ve decided is that I’m going to join a party.”

Joice Hasselmann (no party)

She says she had no intention of returning to the political arena, but that decision began to change in the middle of last year. “Pressure started from parties and people close to me too, saying that I should leave (candidate), because São Paulo is a country and helping to take care of the city would not be a step backwards, on the contrary. Being a councilor in the city of São Paulo is more than being a deputy in any other state. I say because of the amount of budget that the Chamber has to deal with and approve, and because of the grandeur of the projects”, he responds.

And there was criticism of the city’s current councilors. “Despite the great importance of the city of São Paulo, the Chamber is very poorly represented, the quality of the councilors is poor, there is no preparation. There’s still that ‘give it, give it’ thing. The first thing I can contribute is to really bring a new freshness to the Chamber”, he believes.

When returning to Brasília, she compares her only mandate with the succession of re-elections of fellow parliamentarians. “My four-year term was valid for a series of terms. What I did in the Chamber of Deputies, many deputies with 30 years in office did not do. I was the leader of a government in Congress, working with deputies, senators and ministers every day. I was the leader of the pension reform, managing to approve it with votes from the left. I was head of communications at the Chamber, and I was leader of my party. I have a lot of baggage to take on any role”, she assesses herself.

For Hasselmann, having been a candidate for mayor of São Paulo gives her credit for her proposal to run for councilor. “I had to do an in-depth study of São Paulo. I know everything São Paulo needs.”

Regarding political polarization, Hasselmann says that she will not be harmed by this and that she will have a candidate for mayor. “Polarization hinders the country. Regarding me, if I run as a candidate, I will choose a candidate for mayor to be with me. I know that I will definitely oppose (Guilherme) Boulos (pre-candidate for Psol), whether or not I’m a candidate, because it’s not really possible to hand over São Paulo into the hands of a property invader”, protests the former deputy.

On the political spectrum, Hasselmann claims to be from a “centered and rational right” and says that he sees himself represented by the center-right spectrum. “Center-right is what represents me, or rational rightas I like to call it.”

Hasselmann also believes he was the person most attacked in the last election period. “In the last election, I was the most attacked woman. The most attacked character of all time on the social network for two and a half years, according to two surveys that were carried out. I was facing the entire Palace hate machine alone”, stated the former parliamentarian.

In relation to the last elections, she considers that she suffered persecution on social media. “The left doesn’t pretend to vote for me, because I’m a right-wing woman, not a stupid right-wing extremist. I’m a centered and rational right-winger. So I had right-wing icons attacking me at night, all the deputies, the President of the Republic himself, the president’s children, and I didn’t have a candidate to call my own. This hurt me a lot, and was a reflection of the hate campaign carried out on social media.”

After working in politics, Joice Hasselmann focuses on courses

After leaving politics, the former leader of the Bolsonaro government in the Chamber started selling healthy living courses on social media. In a few moments, it became a meme.

“After my departure from the Chamber, I took a sabbatical. I wanted to travel more, take care of myself. And it ended up that my new lifestyle became a business at Protocolo JH, where I help women find their best version. I make them thinner, more beautiful, with higher self-esteem. It’s a project that turned out very well, it became a business. I will continue, I will not give up on this project. By not being in politics, I opened a new niche, a new audience. As for the meme, I actually have fun with it,” she says.