9:02 p.m., Sunday June 9. France falls into a dizzying unknown, after the presidential announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly. Since then, the campaign has been in full swing to elect the 577 deputies who will make up the National Assembly and who will shape the future majority that will govern the country. This Wednesday, June 19, the news was hit by a tragedy, in Courbevoie. A 12-year-old girl was the victim of rape and anti-Semitic violence by two young teenagers, declaring she had been called a “dirty Jew”. On the sidelines of this heinous crime, the National Rally is forced to withdraw one of its candidates for anti-Semitism. Emmanuel Macron, for his part, continues to fully invest in the campaign, provoking new controversy.
The drama of the day: the rape of a Jewish teenager hits the countryside
A drama condemned by the entire political class. Two 13-year-old teenagers were indicted this Tuesday for gang rape, death threats, insults and anti-Semitic violence against a 12-year-old girl. The victim notably claimed to have been treated as a “dirty Jew” by her attackers.
While anti-Semitic acts have exploded in recent months, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron asked this Wednesday for “a time for discussion” on racism and anti-Semitism in schools, denouncing a “scourge”.
“The anti-Semitic attack and the rape of a 12-year-old child in Hauts-de-Seine revolt us,” reacted Marine Le Pen, accusing in the process “the stigmatization of Jews for months by the extreme left” of which “everyone must be fully aware on June 30 and July 7”.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, accused of ambiguity regarding anti-Semitism by his opponents, said he was “horrified by this rape”, condemning “anti-Semitic racism” and “the conditioning of male behavior from the youngest age. The figure of La France insoumise also called for “that we do not transform this crime or the suffering it causes into a media spectacle”.
The hiccup of the day: an RN candidate disinvested for anti-Semitism
“Gas brought justice to the victims of the Shoah.” This sentence does not come from Robert Faurisson or a bad sketch by Dieudonné, but was published on Twitter in 2018 by a candidate of the National Rally in the legislative elections in Morbihan, Joseph Martin.
Jordan Bardella’s party told AFP that the latter “no longer had the support” of the RN. “He is suspended and will be summoned with a view to his exclusion,” said the movement, recalling that it was no longer possible to withdraw his candidacy. “This is an RN candidate. The matrix of the RN is racism and anti-Semitism. Simple.”, scathed the boss of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure.
On the sidelines of a trip to Seine-Saint-Denis, Jordan Bardella assured that “dozens, even hundreds of investitures” had “been made in a few hours”. Strange excuse, when the RN continued to demand a dissolution of the National Assembly in the event of its camp’s victory in the European elections.
The (new) about-face of the day: Bardella wants to forget the pro-Russian past of the RN
For several days, we no longer really know what Jordan Bardella and the National Rally are proposing as a program to govern the country. This Wednesday, the president of the RN, traveling to the Eurosatory defense exhibition, this time wanted to smooth out his camp’s project on diplomatic issues, seeking to bury his party’s pro-Russian history. “I do not intend to call into question the commitments made by France on the international scene,” he declared, believing that there was “a credibility issue with regard to our European partners and our NATO allies.
The president of the RN notably affirmed that there was no longer any question of “leaving the integrated command” of NATO, a measure which still appeared in the presidential program of the RN two years ago. Jordan Bardella also affirmed his desire to maintain military support for kyiv… although with a “red line” on “long-range missiles” and weapons that could “hit Russian territory”, to “avoid any risk of escalation “. Help kyiv, but not allow it to defend itself on equal terms, therefore.
The charge of the day: Darmanin wants to dissolve the GUD, “friend” of the RN
Gérald Darmanin, still Minister of the Interior, announced this Wednesday that he wanted to dissolve the GUD, the Defense Union Group. An ultra-right student union founded in 1968, with very violent methods and openly xenophobic ideas, it had gradually lost influence from the 1980s, before announcing that it had reformed in 2022. “It’s a group very friendly with many people from the National Rally […] These are people who think there is white supremacy, who make extremely serious anti-Semitic remarks,” said Gérald Darmanin, adding that he has been working on this dissolution for “nine months”.
The National Rally has been seeking to rid itself of this accusation for many years. Thus, Jordan Bardella announced that he would dissolve “all ultra-left and ultra-right organizations” if he were to come to power, including GUD. And this, while numerous journalistic investigations, including one by L’Express, had shown the links which remain between the flame party and what is often nicknamed the “GUD connection”. With in particular, certain former union figures like Frédéric Chatillon or Axel Loustau, regular contributors to the National Rally campaigns and always close to certain party executives.
The controversy of the day: Macron provokes the ire of the left on gender change
Emmanuel Macron has affirmed: he intends to invest fully in this campaign. On the sidelines of the June 18 commemorations on the island of Sein in Finistère, the President of the Republic made a short sentence which provoked the anger of the left. The President of the Republic denounced “completely ludicrous things like going to change one’s sex in the town hall” in the program of the New Popular Front – which proposes to “authorize the free change of civil status in front of a state officer civil”.
The left, for its part, accused Emmanuel Macron, accusing him of using the vocabulary of the far right. “The President of the Republic is losing his nerve,” attacked the boss of the Communist Party Fabien Roussel. “Macron has chosen his camp. For him, the authoritarian nationalist is better than the Popular Front,” scathed François Ruffin. Also within the majority, this position seems to have been contested by some. “For trans people, for LGBT people, for everyone… we must reject all stigmatization in political discourse and advance rights” reacted on (ex-Twitter) Clément Beaune, former Macronist minister and candidate for the presidential camp in the legislative elections.