Villepin accuses Philippe of inciting racism over remarks on French people of immigrant origin
The former Prime Minister condemns what he calls the moral and political collapse of the Horizons candidate, who is standing by his remarks on the looting of 17 October and denouncing what he calls thought policing.
The controversy shows no sign of dying down, and it now pits two former Prime Ministers against each other. Speaking on France 2 on Thursday 5 November, Dominique de Villepin said that Édouard Philippe's remarks about French people of immigrant origin amounted to an incitement to racism. He described it as both a moral and a political collapse, and said his rival in the presidential race was sinking deeper and boxing himself in.
The founder of La France humaniste accuses the mayor of Le Havre of chasing after the Rassemblement national, which he described as pitiful. He recalled that racism kills, citing the Trappes attack, franceinfo reports.
What Édouard Philippe said
It all began with an interview in Le Point, published on 27 October according to La Gazette France. In it, the Horizons candidate said the over-representation of young people of immigrant origin in the looting on the weekend of 17 October was obvious, and, quoting Charles Péguy, urged people to see what they see. He repeated the substance of these remarks on 1 November on TF1, franceinfo says.
On Wednesday, on a visit to Zuydcoote in the Nord department, he insisted, asking whether there was an integration problem in the country and whether one was not allowed to say so. He also stressed that these people are French, with the same rights and the same duties as everyone else. He denounces what he describes as a kind of thought police imposed by the far left.
Two voices in the government
Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon, who supports Édouard Philippe, said on franceinfo on Monday that he had said out loud what many French people think privately. The Minister for Relations with Parliament, Laurent Panifous, by contrast, refused on Thursday, on the same station, to draw a link between immigration and crime, La Gazette France reports.
On the left, Socialist Olivier Faure says the candidate is drifting into the dark waters of racist prejudice. Green leader Marine Tondelier and Communist Ian Brossat likened the remarks to those of Jean-Marie Le Pen. Jean-Luc Mélenchon sees them as pandering to voters.
What now?
The debate is taking centre stage in the run-up to the presidential campaign, as France demonstrates on Thursday and the memory of the violence of 17 October weighs on the day. At the time of writing, we have found no response from Édouard Philippe to these latest attacks.
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