Minister of the Interior since 2020, Gérald Darmanin was the guest of Facing Baba on C8 this October 20, 2022, answering questions from presenter Cyril Hanouna but not only. Journalists and members of the public were also expected to interact with him. One of the exchanges was also striking by the tension it released towards the end of the show.
Nadiya Lazzouni, journalist at Media TV who has already participated in Cyril Hanouna’s programs and who wears a headscarf, questioned Gérald Darmanin on these measures which, according to her, stigmatize the Muslim community in France. She particularly reproached him for having said that “Islam was a problem“. After his long question, the first cop in France took the floor to start by telling him in the first place that he did not think he would have to suffer attacks aimed at his person. He then adds: “If you do not withdraw these comments, I will sue you for defamation.“Seeing that she did not wish to withdraw them, he simply added”of which act“.
The tension was intense during this exchange in Facing Baba, the main guest getting annoyed that he felt like he was in a police interrogation. “Do you allow that in a democracy we can answer each other?“, he declared while his interlocutor summoned him to answer his questions. He continued by accusing him of creating separatism by his speech which he describes as dangerous. “I ask you this question, do you think you are the Minister of the Interior who will bring together and protect the French?“, she retorted. A discussion that did not make it possible to advance the debate, will then regret Cyril Hanouna who will say to his colleague: “It’s silly because you don’t let him answer.”
In a position where hot topics follow one another, Gérald Darmanin has already faced tense situations in the media, especially when he was at the microphone of Apolline de Malherbe during his morning face-to-face meetings on RMC, with his sentence “It will be alright“. The father of Maximilien and Alec, born of his marriage to Rose-Marie Devillers, tries to maintain his calm each time, although the tension remains palpable during his stormy exchanges.