(Corrects typo paragraph 4)
PARIS (Reuters) – The President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, denounced on Wednesday an “irresponsible” and “unacceptable” position of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, after his controversial comments about journalist Ruth Elkrief.
Asked on RTL’s microphone what he could say to the leader of La France insoumise (LFI), Gérard Larcher replied: “Shut your mouth.”
In a message published on Sunday on
The leader of LFI described the journalist as “manipulative” and “fanatic”, comments which quickly aroused the indignation of the political class while Ruth Elkrief had to be placed under police protection.
“Someone who has millions of subscribers on what allusion behind it, well I must say that it is unacceptable”, reacted Gérard Larcher on Wednesday.
“For me Jean-Luc Mélenchon put himself outside the Republican arc,” he added.
On Monday, government spokesperson Olivier Véran had already estimated that Jean-Luc Mélenchon had left “the Republican fold”, describing the rebellious leader as “a very embarrassing uncle who we no longer want to invite to meals “.
(Written by Blandine Hénault, with contributions from Bertrand Boucey, edited by Kate Entringer)
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