Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s entourage defends him after Gérard Larcher’s “Shut up”

Gérard Larcher invites Jean-Luc Mélenchon to shut “his mouth”, after a tweet from the rebellious leader describing journalist Ruth Elkrief as an enemy of Muslims, as “manipulative”. Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s entourage fights back.

Silence for the moment on the side of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the rebellious leader, but his close guard is stepping up to the plate. “When you are the second person in the State, you do not insult your opponents like that. The reality is that the bourgeoisie only likes the representatives of the people when they are silent”reacted Wednesday December 6 Manuel Bompard, coordinator of La France insoumise, while Gérard Larcher invited the rebellious leader to “shut his mouth” in an interview on RTL.

According to the President of the Senate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon had an attitude “irresponsible” towards Ruth Elkrief, calling her “manipulative” and accusing him of contempt for Muslims. “After demonstrating with anti-Semites, Gérard Larcher repeats the words of Jean-Marie le Pen. The Republican right is dead”, also posted Manuel Bompard on X (ex-Twitter). LLFI deputy Antoine Léaument asks for“imagine for a single moment the reaction of journalists if Jean-Luc Mélenchon said the same thing on the same set to Gérard Larcher”.

A hashtag and irony

The president of the young rebels Aurélien Le Coq took the opportunity to launch the hashtag #JeSoutiensMelenchon and to titillate the cold left leaders with the rebel in chief: “Olivier Faure, Marine Tondelier, Fabien Roussel, it’s time to show which side you are on“.

Member of this group, LFI MP Sylvie Ferrer pretends to wonder about the state of the President of the Senate: “When we care about someone, we hold them back. As the holidays approach, it is important to remember that alcohol is the main cause of hospitalization. Cognitive disorders, violence and slurred speech are all consequences of excessive consumption. Be careful!”she wrote on X, resuming the video interview with Gérard Larcher.

Vulgarity

“Insult and vulgarity have no place in public debate”, for his part criticizes the president of the environmental group in the Senate, Guillaume Gontard, also on X (ex-Twitter). On the same social network, the parliamentary group La France insoumise at the National Assembly “provides its full support to its former president, Jean-Luc Mélenchon”. “We will never lower our eyes in the face of the unworthy attacks from the Macronists to the far right“, he says.

The general secretary of the Socialist Party, Pierre Jouvet, appears appalled, on X. “Vulgarity breeds vulgarity. The mediocrity of the political debate is distressing. The French deserve better than to witness this kind of response which only fuels rejection and violence”he posted on the platform.

Outside the left, some support Gérard Larcher

“Not only do I understand, but I approve”for his part reacted Eric Ciotti, according to whom Gérard Larcher had a “clear reaction” compared to “people who want to destroy the Republic, who have a revolutionary project, who want to undermine our institutions, who have even introduced physical violence within the confines of the National Assembly”. “It is clear, not only relevant, but it is a course to follow”said the president of the Republicans during a press conference.

Former senator Esther Benbassa, for her part, estimated that if “the formula, in the mouth of Gérard Larcher, may have surprised”, “she is only responding to a man, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who hardly knows how to hold his tongue. And whose comments, for a long time now, have offended, shocked, and sometimes scandalized the very people who until then kept a close eye on him. real esteem.”