“Shut up,” says Gérard Larcher to Jean-Luc Mélenchon

“Shut up!”, the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, sharply attacked the leader of La France Insoumise Jean-Luc Mélenchon on Wednesday, accused of “creating an inferno” with his recent criticisms. unacceptable” against journalist Ruth Elkrief.

“It’s irresponsible,” judged Gérard Larcher on RTL, three days after Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s tweet calling the journalist “manipulative”, in a vitriolic message on the social network don’t insult Muslims, this fanatic is indignant.”

Jean-Luc Mélenchon “outside the republican arc”

The leader of the radical left “put himself outside the Republican arc”, said the President of the Senate, castigating “someone who has millions of subscribers on X and who behaves in this way , who in some way through his words creates an inferno that can inflame, divide.” Jean-Luc Mélenchon “points the finger (…) and we can see with what allusion behind it”, he added, while the rebellious tribune is regularly accused of anti-Semitism.

Exasperated, Gérard Larcher finally summarized the substance of his thoughts towards the three-time candidate in the presidential election: to the question “What are you telling him this morning? Shut up?”, the boss of the upper house responded “Yes, shut up.” On the LFI side, the reactions were quick. MP Paul Vannier thus denounces an “indignation of variable geometry”. “When Jean-Luc Mélenchon criticizes a journalist, he is the subject of a torrent of insults and when the number 2 of the State, which is Gérard Larcher, wallows in the gutter of insult, these “Insults are welcomed with satisfaction by the journalists who question him. All this is the testimony of a political-media caste,” he adds.

Mélenchon’s response

His rebellious colleague Sylvie Ferrer goes even further, accusing Gérard Larcher of “alcoholism”. Questioned at the end of the Council of Ministers, the government spokesperson, Olivier Véran, shared his frustration. “Jean-Luc Mélenchon has to stop. He really has to stop. I think it would be a good idea for the people around him to explain to him that this cannot continue.”

After several hours of silence, Jean-Luc Mélenchon explained Wednesday evening on X that he wanted to “let ridicule flood the entire field of (his) opponents since Gérard Larcher’s remarks”. “All the indignations of the watchdogs (after his statements on Ruth Elkrief, Editor’s note) are canceled by the silence of the media class in the face of the rant of the brave soldier Larcher,” he again denounced.

Bravo dear Olivier Truchot for innovating in the art of confusion by even pointing out my silence against me. He is eloquent enough to make you react. I want to let ridicule flood the entire field of my adversaries since Gérard Larcher’s remarks. All the… https://t.co/vHUylfBbwI

— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) December 6, 2023