2023-11-28 20:55:00
On the right, everyone naturally stood up in unison when it came to joining the collective emotion linked to the death of young Thomas in Crépol (Drôme) on the night of November 18 to 19. On the other hand, many eyebrows furrowed as they listened to the president of LR, Éric Ciotti, refuse to obstruct the issue of violence by small ultra-right groups which followed the tragedy.
“What worries me is this climate of terror, of violence, these attacks that we must fight and condemn (speaking of Thomas). You want me to say something else, I won’t tell you,” the Nice MP first declared on Sunday on BFMTV. Invited the next day on “Touche pas à mon poste”, Ciotti this time spoke of “dangerous extreme right” and “small groups which must be dissolved”. It is true that in the meantime some of these activists have been convicted by the courts. Chapter closed?
No, because the episode disturbed many executives of the Les Républicains party, questioning both the substance and the strategy of their boss. “He’s caught between a thousand fires at the moment, but it’s not very complicated to condemn violence wherever it comes from. We cannot let people believe, by omission, that we have tolerance towards the violence of the extreme right,” said an LR deputy. “Many of us were shocked,” says another colleague. “Slippage”, for a third.
“Even Jordan Bardella immediately condemned these small groups”
“The strategy was to become the spokesperson for what the French think, he wanted to send a single message” centered on Thomas, argues one of his close friends, refuting any refusal of condemnation, specifying that the program Monday was more favorable. “On Sunday, he said to himself that if he condemned the ultra-right, he would give the impression of being on the wrong side. But at the same time, you cannot not condemn, even with lip service,” a Senate executive tries to understand.
“But it’s incomprehensible, especially when our strategy is to recover votes from the center right,” reacts another deputy, fearing thereby alienating the votes of right-wing voters who have gone to Emmanuel Macron… and that LR covets for 2027.
Many have in mind certain past outings by Ciotti, who declared that he preferred Zemmour to Macron during the presidential election, or when he affirmed that the difference between LR and the RN was “its ability to govern”. The RN who did not procrastinate. An LR MP chokes up: “Even Jordan Bardella immediately condemned these small groups who want to make their own law. He was softer and more legalistic than us. »
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