Elisabeth Borne “did not intend to hurt” the listener of France Bleu to whom she had suggested to “resume a professional activity”

Elisabeth Borne assured Wednesday June 8 not to have “naturally not intended” of “hurt” a disabled listener, to whom she suggested “perhaps resuming a professional activity” during an exchange on France Bleu. Tuesday, in the program “Ma France” on France Bleu, Dolorès, a listener in a wheelchair after a serious accident, asked the head of government “if the state [comptait] do something for people who are disabled” and challenges him on the “deconjugalization” allowance for disabled adults (AAH). In response, Elisabeth Borne suggested that she could “maybe resume a professional activity”. The listener then burst into tears, and the sequence was strongly criticized, especially on the left.

The Prime Minister returned to this exchange on Wednesday during a press briefing in Versailles. “If the person could have been hurt by my words, obviously I regret it, I naturally did not intend to hurt themshe assured. I have since tried to contact her again, we did not manage to join but my teams were able to discuss at length with her. I measure to what extent this person may have had a difficult life course and so I repeat it, obviously, you have to accompany her, help her overcome this very delicate moment for her.

A little earlier, Wednesday, the listener of France Bleu had also returned to this controversial exchange with the Prime Minister. “I don’t blame Elisabeth Borne at all, she assured. Maybe yes, I took the answer the wrong way, which was not what I expected. My only expectation was that she would tell me: yes madam, the AAH deconjugalization file will be opened. During the presidential campaign, Emmanuel Macron promised to “to move” on the individualization of the disabled adult allowance – that is to say its calculation without taking into account the income of the spouse -, a development that his government and his majority rejected several times last year. “I focused on his answer about work, because they closed the doors to me because of my wheelchair.she explained. I felt like a stain on society, I still struggle today.”