Valérie Hayer, head of Renaissance’s list in the European elections, denounces a “trap” after being photographed with neo-Nazi activists

She explains herself on an image that is a stain. Valérie Hayer, the head of Renaissance’s list for the European elections, denounced on “a trap (…) set by activists of a small neo-Nazi group” alongside whom she appears in a photo circulating online, Sunday May 12. “These are unworthy methods, those of the extreme right that I condemn with all my strength”she insists.

A screenshot of this photo, shared on a Telegram messaging channel, was posted online onSunday, by a journalist from Release, Pierre Plottu. In the image, Valérie Hayer stands alongside four people, two of whom wear symbols of small far-right groups: a t-shirt bearing the slogan “The White Race” (“the white race”) and a piece of clothing marked with the name “West Cokins” whose stylized S’s recall those of the Nazi SS.

“Unworthy methods, those of the extreme right”

In her publication, Valérie Hayer explains having been “interpellated” Sunday “by men [lui] rshouting out a photo”. “I am not in the habit of refusing and I accepted it as I do every time”says the candidate, who assures that she has no “obviously didn’t have time to see the racist inscriptions on their outfits”.

Many left-wing politicians reacted to his presence in this photo. “No sane person would appear with such perpetrators of ethnic violence”wrote the Insoumis Jean-Luc Mélenchon onconsidering the hypothesis of a trap even before Valérie Hayer’s explanations: “The fascists are accustomed to this type of false ‘war prizes'”. “Behind a probable lack of culture, a frightening and dangerous lightness”reacted the socialist deputy Arthur Delaporte, on the same network.