During a political event on Wednesday (9) in Piauí, President Lula (PT) called Senator Ciro Nogueira, without naming him, a "vira-lata" (stray dog/mutt). Lula declared support for Senate candidates from the government coalition, such as Marcelo Castro from the MDB and Júlio César from the PSD. The president stated that he has no other Senate candidate because he "does not want vira-latas" in his political group.
Ciro Nogueira is the national president of the Progressive Union Federation, which declared neutrality in the presidential race. The federation also blocked the possibility of Senator Tereza Cristina being the vice presidential candidate of PL candidate Jair Bolsonaro. According to sources from the president's reelection campaign, there had been expectations that Lula would not mention the senator during the event.
