The president () minimized the political strength of the governor of Minas Gerais, (Novo), said that he “is not going anywhere” and mocked his opponent by stating that he “didn’t learn to peel a banana”.
The statements were made this Thursday (11) at the Federative Caravan ceremony, a federal government event in .
In a speech, Lula recalled the beginning of his term, when he invited the 27 governors to go to Palácio do Planalto to indicate works for the PAC (Growth Acceleration Program).
“Zema didn’t say anything because he just wanted to eat bananas with the peel, he hadn’t learned how to peel bananas yet. He’s not going anywhere. The guy who didn’t learn how to peel bananas can’t want to do anything else,” said the PT member, to the applause of his allies.
Afterwards, he even suggested that he would give a “distance course” to his opponent on how to peel a banana.
The statement refers to a video recorded by Zema in February this year in which the Minas Gerais governor ate a banana with the peel to criticize food inflation. In August, Zema launched his pre-candidacy for the Presidency and has been nodding to Bolsonarista voters.
Earlier, in Minas Gerais, Lula also minimized the pre-candidacy of Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), announced last week.
“We don’t choose a candidate, an opponent. I see it all the time [Ronaldo] Caiado, Tarcisio [de Freitas], [Romeu] Zema, Mouse [Jr.]Eduardo [Bolsonaro]Michelle [Bolsonaro]. They always come up with a name. In other words, whoever invents a lot of names is because they don’t have any. So they are in doubt because they know one thing: they will lose in 2026. They will,” he declared.
Flávio even said that there would be a price for giving up his candidacy. Later, in an interview with Sheetretreated and .
The parliamentarian traveled to São Paulo last Thursday (4) to inform Bolsonaro’s decision to the governor of , (Republicans), before the announcement.
Lula participated in a federal government traveling caravan in BH that provides service and technical support to municipal and state managers. Earlier, the president was inaugurating a radiotherapy center in a hospital in Itabira, in the central region of the state.
This is Lula’s eighth trip to Minas this year. The president intensified the agenda in the state in an attempt to build a platform in the second largest electoral college in the country, which is usually a kind of thermometer for presidential elections.
So far, however, the PT and the left-wing parties have not managed to build a candidacy for governor of the state in 2026. The strongest name was the senator (), but the tendency is for him to leave public life after being passed over in the selection to the STF (Supreme Federal Court), in which the president nominated his attorney general of the Union, Jorge Messias.
Other possible candidacies cited with the potential to serve as a platform for Lula in 2026 are those of the former mayor of Belo Horizonte Alexandre Kalil (PDT) and, more recently, the president of the Legislative Assembly, Tadeu Leite (MDB).
Interlocutors of the two politicians, however, still do not believe that their names will be on the ballot, especially that of Tadeu, who is now being canvassed for membership in the PSB.
In the interview with Portal Uai, Lula said he had not given up on Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) as a candidate for the government of Minas in 2026.
“I said to Pacheco: ‘Man, I’m asking you to help me win the elections for the Presidency of the Republic. You will be governor of the second most important state in Brazil. You can make a difference in this electoral process’. He was reluctant, reluctant, but he thinks I gave up, I didn’t give up”, said the president.
The senator has already indicated to Lula that he has no intention of entering the dispute, in addition to having been one of those considered to take over Luís Roberto Barroso’s seat at the (Supreme Federal Court). The president chose to nominate Jorge Messias for the position.
