"It saddened me, it's a very heavy burden," says Zambelli about Bolsonaro's accusation.
A congresswoman from the PL party says she does not intend to contact the former president after he blamed her for his defeat in 2022: "He has my phone number."
247 - In an interview given to CNN In Brazil this Thursday (27), federal deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) reacted with bitterness to the statements of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who directly blamed her for the defeat of the Bolsonaro ticket in the 2022 presidential elections. According to Bolsonaro, the parliamentarian's actions running armed through the streets of São Paulo, on the eve of the second round, would have contributed to his defeat against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). "This statement by Bolsonaro left me quite saddened, it is a very heavy burden for a person to carry," Zambelli told the broadcaster.
The former president's statement came earlier this week during a podcast interview, when he recalled the episode in which Zambelli was caught on camera chasing a Black man with a gun in hand, in broad daylight, in the Jardins neighborhood of São Paulo, on the eve of the October 30, 2022 election.
“That image of Carla Zambelli, the way it was used, chasing that guy. Some people thought: 'Look, Bolsonaro defends gun ownership.' Even those who didn't vote for Lula annulled their vote. She took away our mandate,” Bolsonaro stated.
Asked if she had contacted the former president after the comment, the congresswoman denied it and said she does not intend to do so. "I'm not going to contact Bolsonaro. I think after what happened, he has my phone number; if he feels he should call me, he'll call me," she replied.
Zambelli also tried to downplay the impact of the episode on the electoral race and suggested that the former president was speaking under intense pressure. “I think that, one day, Bolsonaro will also realize that what happened to me wasn't necessarily what cost him the election. I think he's going through a difficult time, and in these difficult moments, it's common for people to act in a more extreme way,” she concluded.
The relationship between the two, once marked by strong political loyalty, now seems shaken, amidst a series of electoral defeats and legal proceedings surrounding the former president. It's worth remembering that the Supreme Federal Court (STF) recently indicted Bolsonaro for inciting a coup d'état.
