José Coelho / Lusa
André Ventura, president of Chega
Images circulating on social media associate several public figures with alleged support for André Ventura’s presidential candidacy. It’s completely false: only Ossanda Liber supports the leader of Chega, who has DNA knocking on the door.
One circulating on social media, shared on Facebook on January 21st, can be seen Cristiano Ronaldo, Pedro Passos Coelho, Herman José, Jorge Jesus, Lili Caneças, Tiago Dores and other public figures. The publication includes the phrase “We Vote André Ventura”, along with an emoji of the Portuguese flag and portraits of these celebrities with a frame associated with the candidate, which reads their initials.
AND totally false. None of these announced their intention to vote for Chega’s leader in the second round of the presidential elections.
Cristiano Ronaldo, despite having already spoken out for the President of the USA, a political figure with whom Ventura has already said he identified, has not spoken out about the presidential elections nor indicated support for Ventura.
Pedro Passos Coelho also appears in the images, but the former prime minister opted the day after the first round for the second round, a discreet stance already registered in the first vote.
As for Herman José, Lili Caneças and Pedro Soares dos Santos, also in the fake images, no public sign of support for Ventura was identified.
In the case of Tiago Dores, former Gato Fedorento, the lie is even clearer: the comedian assured that he did not announce support for any candidate.
Finally, also Manuel Luís Goucha felt the need to go public and deny a video of him, “abusively manipulated and used, wrongly implying” his voting intentions in the second round of the presidential elections.
“I have long seen myself in social democracy, which is why I consciously supported Marques Mendes in the first round of the Presidential elections. Let there be no doubts regarding my vote on the 8th of February: between the center-democratic (which I understand to be represented by António José Seguro) and the radical right, I will vote, without any hesitation, for Seguro”, the presenter on Instagram.
Who supports Ventura
Among the names represented, there really is one that (practically only) expressed support for André Ventura. We talk about Ossanda Liberleader of Nova Direita, who, after supporting Gouveia and Melo in the first round, declared that in the second round he would opt for Ventura.
Without Joana Amaral Dias in the race (her candidacy was through the Constitutional Court), the party ADN said he is willing to support Ventura, but put red lines on the revision of the Constitution.
In the event that a constitutional review is proposed, ADN president Bruno Fialho guaranteed that “he would not approve any measure that aims to reduce fundamental rights, freedoms and guarantees, as well as the same type of limitations in terms of pandemic issues”. Furthermore, the party does not see any obstacle in supporting André Ventura.
The parliamentary leader of the CDS-PP, Paulo Nunciodid not say that he would vote for Chega’s leader, but he was one of the few to defend him in Parliament. “What was missing was the only legitimate and democratic vote” to be the vote for Seguro, he said in the Assembly of the Republic last week, contradicting the idea of the party leader, Nuno Melo, who said that Chega is socialist.
