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Far-right candidate stabbed at campaign event in Brazil

0:37
Fernando Goncalves
Video shows stabbing of Brazil presidential candidate at rally
Antonio Scorza/Agencia O Globo via AP
ByAicha El Hammar Castano
September 07, 2018, 11:33 AM

MADRID -- Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right candidate in Brazil's presidential election, was stabbed at a campaign event on Thursday.

Federal police confirmed to ABC News that a 40-year-old suspect in the attack that occurred in Juiz de Fora, about 125 miles north of Rio de Janeiro, had been detained.

Presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro is taken on the shoulders of a supporter moments before being stabbed during a campaign rally in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, Sept. 6, 2018.
Antonio Scorza/Agencia O Globo via AP

Bolsonaro, knows as "The Brazilian Trump," was being carried on the shoulders of a supporter when he was attacked, authorities said.

Flavio Bolsonaro, Jair's son and also a politician, said via Twitter than the stabbing had pierced his father's liver, lung and intestinal tract.

Presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro grimaces right after being stabbed in the stomach during a campaign rally in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, Sept. 6, 2018.
Raysa Leite/AP

After about two hours of surgery, Jair Bolsonaro was transferred to an intensive care unit where he was last reported in stable condition. On Friday, he was transferred to the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and his spokesperson said his condition remained stable.

Bolsonaro, 63, is a former Army captain supported by millions of evangelical Christians because he is pro-guns and anti-LGBTQ. He also has been accused of making racist comments and inciting hatred and currently is under investigation for recent remarks about Afro-Brazilians.

This photo released by Brazil's Military Police, shows the knife allegedly used for the stabbing of Jair Bolsonaro, a leading Brazilian presidential candidate, in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, Sept. 6, 2018.
Brazil's Military Police via AP

He is used to controversy. In 2011, he told Playboy magazine that he would be "incapable of loving a gay son" and that he'd prefer such a child of his "to die in an accident."

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