Tarcísio Says São Paulo Rally ‘Was Worth It for the Message’ Despite Low Turnout

“The rally was worth it for the message,” São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas said after a Bolsonaro-aligned demonstration drew an estimated 28,500 people to Paulista Avenue. The turnout was below earlier events, but Tarcísio argued that the protest’s reach mattered more than its size.

“We had what I consider an important audience, a good audience. Now, the message reverberated a lot,” he said. He pointed to discussion of the event on social media and in the press as evidence that it had gained traction.

The estimate from the Monitor do Debate Político at USP/Cebrap and More in Common carries a margin of error of 3,400 people in either direction. The crowd was smaller than the 42,200 people estimated at the September 7 rally in 2025 and the 45,400 estimated in 2024. No official event took place in 2023, while the 2022 crowd was estimated at 32,700.

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The rally was worth it for the message. We had what I consider an important audience, a good audience. Now, the message reverberated a lot.

Tarcísio said the demonstration conveyed “indignation” over the political situation and called for institutional responses, especially from Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court. He made the comments after a campaign engagement connected to Smart Sampa, São Paulo’s municipal camera-monitoring program.

The rally had been called by Flávio Bolsonaro, the Liberal Party’s presidential candidate, as an opportunity to mobilize supporters on a date important to the Bolsonaro movement and demonstrate popular strength. It followed the senator’s candidacy launch on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, which allies had judged to be below expectations. The event also took place amid revelations involving Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and former Banco Master controller Daniel Vorcaro.

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Indignation