Brazilian TV presenter Datena declares himself presidential hopeful on air

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazilian television and radio presenter Jose Luiz Datena on Friday declared himself a presidential hopeful for the conservative Social Liberal Party (PSL) in next year’s general election.

Making his announcement on air during his program on Rádio Bandeirantes, Datena said he will wait to see how he is doing in polls before confirming his candidacy, adding that he may instead run for Sao Paulo office or the national Senate.

Datena is the presenter of the television program “Brasil Urgente” on the Band network, one of Brazil’s biggest crime news shows, and is one of the country’s highest-paid TV stars.

He only joined the PSL party this week, but had previously aligned himself with other political parties with the aim of running for office before giving up.

The PSL is the party that President Jair Bolsonaro ran for when he won the 2018 election. Bolsonaro left the PSL in 2019 and has been without a party since. He must join one if he is to run for re-election next year.