The public dispute between the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Gilmar Mendes and the former governor of Minas Gerais Romeu Zema this week had the effect of boosting, on social media, the presidential pre-candidate for the Partido Novo. Zema’s number of followers increased by more than 494 thousand people, according to a survey by consultancy Bites, specialized in data analysis.
In the same period, the other pre-candidates grew much less. Renan dos Santos (Mission), who is strong among younger voters, increased his follower base by 129 thousand, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) by 114 thousand and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by 39 thousand. The governor of Goiás, Ronaldo Caiado (PSD), grew the least, with 1,900 new followers.
The most relevant data, however, is not in the base, but in the engagement achieved by Zema, says Bites. Interactions with posts published on Facebook, Instagram and X by the former governor of Minas Gerais reached 7.7 million in the week. Lula had 3.9 million interactions, followed by Flávio Bolsonaro (with 3.7 million), Renan dos Santos (1.3 million) and Ronaldo Caiado (104 thousand).
Getting such engagement, in such a short period of time, is quite rare. According to Manoel Fernandes, executive director of Bites, the result could encourage new attacks on the STF by other pre-candidates, as an electoral platform in the search for votes.
History
The dispute between the former governor and the STF started at the beginning of the week, when, after Zema published a video called “The Untouchables”, minister Gilmar Mendes presented a representation against the pre-candidate.
In it, two puppets, who would represent Dias Toffoli and Gilmar Mendes, interact, with Toffoli calling Gilmar, with a request that he annul the breaches of confidentiality of his company, approved in the Senate’s Organized Crime CPI. With a dialogue marked by irony and caricatures, Gilmar responds that he would cancel the breaches and asks in exchange for a courtesy at the Tayayá resort, in which Toffoli had a shareholding. He later appears in leisure clothes, enjoying the resort.
In response, Mendes asked for a humorous publication to be included in the Fake News researchled by minister Alexandre de Moraes. He also requested that Zema be investigated. Mendes stated that the material damaged the honor and image of the STF and its members by simulating non-existent dialogues about supposed exchanges of favors.
Zema responded by intensifying publications against the STF. There were at least 14 videos in the weekwith attacks on what he called the “untouchables spree”. One of the effects was that Zema’s candidacy, until then tipped to become Flávio’s deputy, was consolidated. Even the pressure on Novo to become vice-president decreased.
Gilmar, in turn, went public give several interviews to defend your position. His thesis is that the Supreme Court has been the target of orchestrated attacks and that he will continue to fight what he calls the “defamation industry”. In one of the interviews, he said that if a doll of Zema were made as a homosexual it would be offensive, in a clearly homophobic statement. Later, with the negative reaction, he went public to apologize for the mistake.
Another consequence came from the leader of the opposition in the Chamber, deputy Cabo Gilberto Silva (PL-PB), who presented a request for impeachment of Mendes for requesting the inclusion of Zema in the fake news investigation.
“Minister Gilmar Mendes’ response to the STF ended up giving Zema the legitimacy that his critics sought in this institutional conflict”, writes Bites, in its analysis. For the consultancy, Zema managed to convert an institutional conflict into a political asset and digital traction.
