Manuel Bompard clarifies his remarks… but does not condemn them. The rebellious deputy returned to the microphone of BFMTV this Sunday, on his statements about the Adrien Quatennens affair, who admitted having slapped his companion.
While he appeared to defend his comrade in the National Assembly, targeted by an investigation for domestic violence, declaring on September 23 that a slap was “not equal to a man who beats his wife every day”, Manuel Bompard made a point of explaining his thinking.
“I regret that this sentence has given rise to this controversy,” he said on Sunday, assuring that his intention was not to “minimize, trivialize or relativize” domestic violence. “A slap is unacceptable violence,” he said.
“A gradation in the facts”
“But I think there is a gradation in the facts,” added the deputy for the 4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône. He also assured that “no political formation” faced with the same case of fig, had “taken a decision as important as the dismissal of its national coordinator”.
The former director of campaigns for Jean-Luc Mélenchon in 2017 and 2022 took the opportunity to address a small tackle to the media. “I don’t find it normal for a legal case to end up in the press in the blink of an eye”, he regretted, considering that “a certain number of journalistic practices” posed a problem for him “from a point from an ethical point of view”.
The reaction of the leader of Nupes, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, to these revelations which caused an earthquake within the left-wing party was particularly criticized internally. The unfortunate presidential candidate of 2022 had initially given “his support” and “his affection” to Adrien Quatennens, before publishing a second tweet, three hours later, in which he specified that he was not “indifferent to Céline (Quatennen) pointing out that a slap was “unacceptable in any case”.
On the BFMTV set, Manuel Bompard was also questioned on the sensitive subject of pension reform, which the government plans to pass through the use of 49.3. “It would be a declaration of war,” he said, assuring at the same time that there would be “no compromise possible” with the majority on the subject. “I am in favor of voting all the motions of censure that would be proposed,” he added.