As the anniversary of General de Gaulle’s death looms, Éric Zemmour is asserting his values. Even if it means reinventing history, a Zemmourian mania which this time aimed at LGBTQI + people.
Eric Zemmour is not yet in the countryside. Eric Zemmour is however everywhere. Guest at BFM TV on November 8, 2021, he detailed his ideas, before answering journalists’ questions. In particular concerning the anniversary of the death of General de Gaulle, which falls on Tuesday, October 9. Comment by Eric Zemmour: no, he will not go to meditate on General de Gaulle’s grave, to escape the political cliché and not to make it “a tribute of vice to virtue”.
Indeed, according to Eric Zemmour, General de Gaulle would have denied all the political leaders of the left and “today, all these people would treat General de Gaulle as an outcast”. And to add, in line with his fights against minorities, that the general would not have defended the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people. “Can you imagine General de Gaulle defending LGBT values?” (sic), he exclaimed. A statement widely taken up by Internet users and that it is important to dissect.
From Pétain to de Gaulle, when Zemmour reinterprets World War II
Indeed, among the members of the Resistance, there were homosexuals, forced to hide at a time when homosexuality was criminalized by the Nazis and their French supporters. This is particularly the case of Daniel Cordier, a companion of the Resistance, close to Charles de Gaulle and homosexual. Be careful, this does not mean that General de Gaulle was openly in favor of the rights of LGBT people. He was indeed socially conservative. However, it is dishonest to use this figure as part of homophobic rhetoric.
Asked about Eric Zemmour on November 7, 2021, Pierre Mazeaud, a figure of Gaullism, was also carried away at the microphone of Radio J: “Better not say anything about it. Leave him alone and leave us alone. Don’t give him any authority!”, he hammered, before adding: “The more we talk about him, the happier he is. […] Your best bet would be to shut up and never talk about it. ” At a time when Éric Zemmour is rising high in the polls, it nevertheless seems important to sift through these arguments and to confront him with his contradictions. What Pierre de Gaulle had done by recalling the interest of the far-right polemicist for Vichy France. So, can we imagine the general supporting a defender of Pétain?