It’s a moment of TV that never ceases to be commented on. While Gérald Darmanin and the journalist from Apolline de Malherbe had a heated exchange on Tuesday on the BFMTV antenna, his government colleague, Elisabeth Moreno, was questioned on the subject, Thursday morning on LCI, the Minister of Interior being accused of sexism.
“I saw verbal jousting”
“I did not see any lack of respect, I saw verbal jousting”, she assured, while the interview provoked strong criticism from the opposition in the middle of the presidential campaign. The Minister Delegate for Gender Equality assured that she had “not seen Gérald Darmanin be sexist”, “not seen inappropriate remarks” in this sequence. But “if she (Apolline de Malherbe) felt offended, I think he should apologize, because I don’t think that’s what he was trying to do,” she added. .
It all started with a question from Apolline de Malherbe who asked Gérald Darmanin if the executive had not “woken up a little late”, with the announcement by Emmanuel Macron of a law on internal security in the last months of the five-year term, while the figures for 2021 show an increase in attacks on people. “I looked at your logo, I thought we were on Cnews but in fact we are on BFM”, first quipped Gérald Darmanin, before criticizing a “very fast and somewhat populist presentation”. “No, but don’t get upset, calm down Madam, it’s going to be fine,” continued the minister as the journalist protested, considering that it was “not an answer” but “almost an offense”.
The same day of the interview, Marlène Schiappa, the Minister Delegate for Citizenship, had been questioned on the subject at the National Assembly and had come to the defense of her supervisory minister. “I thought we were in the National Assembly, I had not understood that we were in the editorial staff of Télé Loisirs” commenting on television programs”, she had replied to the deputies questioning her. On the set of “C à vous”, in the evening, Marc-Olivier Fogiel, general manager of the news channel had mentioned this “moment of television”. “I don’t think this exchange is misogynistic, it’s a bit tense, I did too. I heard Gérald Darmanin with other male interviewers use this expression”, which he considers “unwelcome in the interview” (“Calm down, it’s going to be fine”, Editor’s note)
At these sides, Edouard Philippe, former Prime Minister, indicated that Gérald Darmanin, who was in Action and Public Accounts in his government, “often” uses this expression, with him too.
Any reproduction prohibited