Moment mayoral candidate's adviser punches mayor's staffer at Brazilian debate

This is the bizarre moment a mayoral candidate's staffer punched a rival's campaign worker during a live TV debate in the southeastern Brazilian city of São Paulo.

Footage showed candidate Pablo Marçal's adviser Nahuel Medina attacking Eduardo de Lima, a marketing aide on Mayor Ricardo Nunes' team, at the Grupo Flow studios on Monday.

Marçal, a far-right digital influencer and life coach, can be seen walking away from the dais after he was kicked out of the heated debate by the moderator when the cell phone camera panned over to de Lima, who was looking at his own mobile device.

Medina, a native of Uruguay, subsequently stepped towards de Lima and punched him in the face as bystanders quickly stepped in to separate the two campaign workers.

De Lima can be seen kneeling on the floor while Medina ran back to the podium near Nunes as bodyguards rushed the room and the recording was abruptly cut off.

A photo released to the Brazilian press showed de Lima with blood stains on his face. He was taken to an area medical facility and received six stitches in the face.

Medina and de Lima appeared at a local São Paulo Civil Police precinct and filed reports against each other.

However, the São Paulo Public Safety Department said that de Lima was the only person who had filed an incident report.

'The parties were taken to the police station, where they gave statements. The victim also provided images relating to the events and requested protective measures against the perpetrator,' the São Paulo Public Safety Department said. 'The police authority requested that a forensic examination be carried out and advised the victim about the deadline for filing a criminal complaint.'

Medina told Brazilian news outlet G1 that de Lima attacked him first, scratching him in the chest.

'At that moment, I just defended myself. That's what happened instinctively and everyone saw it,' he said. 'I came here to file a police report against him for assault, because he attacked me first.'

De Lima rejected Medina's claims, telling the outlet that he tried to take Medina's cell phone when he noticed he was being recorded.

'I didn't' touch that guy,' he said. 'No way.' 

The incident came exactly one week after Marçal was hit over the head with a chair by mayoral candidate José Luiz Datena, a journalist and TV host, on a live television debate.

Marçal had brought up sexual harassment allegations made against the TV host, which had been dismissed by prosecutors.

Datena walked up to Marçal and struck him with a stool, delivering a shot to the head.

He was hospitalized with 'trauma to the right chest region and right wrist, without any major associated complications' and was discharged the following the day.

In a statement posted on Instagram, Marçal accused de Lima of instigating the fight.

'Duda Lima, who is a marketer for Nunes, was also a marketer from (former President Jair) Bolsonaro and will lose with Nunes,' Marçal said.

'(De Lima) attacks first, (a) member of my team and gets punched immediately after the first act of aggression,' he added. 'This is sad, we didn't need to be going through any of this. I'm ready to remove Medina from my team as long as marketer and Datena are removed as well.'