By raising for the first time the idea of sending troops to Ukraine, the French leader “has taken a further step toward belligerence,” blasted his rival Marine Le Pen, of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party. She accused him of “posing an existential risk to 70 million French people, and more particularly to our armed forces already deployed in Eastern Europe.”
"You’ve been waiting for the first opportunity to remind people of your true loyalties [and] “show your true colors,” retorted Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who had left the Paris Agricultural Show to attend the verbal joust. “When you read the investigations that are being carried out, [such as one published by the Washington Post on December 30, showing the RN’s persistent links with Moscow], you have to wonder whether Vladimir Putin’s troops aren’t already in our country,” he continued. “I’m talking about you and your troops, Ms. Le Pen.”
I know nothing of Macron’s policies, but credit where credit is due. Someone needs to call out these right wing nutjobs cropping up across western democracies.
French person here. Le Pen wouldn’t be where she is without Macron. He used her as a foil to win two elections, and his party has been hard at work normalising cooperation with the far right in parliament to oppose any left wing bill. He is playing with fire, and one pertinent comment from his PM should not make us forget that.
As a German I am always surprised how little I know about french politics (I mean I know le pen and macron are and i vaguely remember that he had to form a weird coalition?). Even British politics are discussed more than French politics even though they do influence us way more. Would you say it’s the same for you?
It’s the same for us in France. We barely get any news from Germany, apart from who is the current chancellor and the big headlines. I now live in Germany and it feels very strange to have so few knowledge of the politics of where I live (my german is way too weak for now to properly understand it)
It’s similar in the US with Mexico. They’re nextdoor neighbors and we barely hear anything that happens in their country outside of Drug Cartel violence, but we do get a bit more regular information on Canadian politics, so I’m guessing it’s the language barrier.
We have very little discussion about German politics here. A little bit about afd lately and whenever the EU comes up but not as much as US or UK politics. The cultural hegemony is no joke…
Macron is a neoliberal after all. He has no substantive and popular policies to fully temper populism other than “I’m not Le Pen”. Le Pen is inching closer and closer to becoming president with every election if Macron keeps coddling with the establishment. She got more votes in 2022 than in 2017 and democratic loving people should not become complacent of Le Pen not winning the presidential elections and calling it the final victory. She is biding her time and this is what happened in Netherlands with Geert Wilders’ party having won most seats despite losing in 2017.
This wasn’t Macron
Ah fair point, I didn’t read the full article or summary 😅 - my comment has been updated to reflect that.
On the one hand, I want to live in a democracy that follows the rule of law and follow due process and we should let the democratic process play out. On the other hand though, we’ve got traitors in our midst that our obviously in bed with the Kremlin and doing their bidding. Why else is US aid being held up by the House when an ally has Russians invading their country? Because treasonous bastards are gumming up the works at the behest of Putin. They need to be removed from their offices and placed under arrest, people who need our help are dying and we don’t have time for this BS.
Yeah. That’s why I was giving Attal kudos here. As an American I really wish that the Democrats would take the same stance publicly. Are Democrats here not left enough? Sure, that’s valid. But they’re the only one of two major parties that largely respects the rule of law and isn’t trying to drag us into a fascist hellscape. The time for the kid gloves to come off was years ago, yet here they are still trying to engage Republicans in good faith arguments.
Ooo, se brûler malade!
Oooh, sick burn?
Is that what you meant?
Oof, thanks. Would’ve taken me a second.
Not gonna lie, it gave me a moment of pause too, even as a French speaker.
Yeah that’s the thing, it’s my native language too hahah
Sorry, I used Google translate. I have no idea how it would actually be said in French natively, lol. I was just trying to make a joke.
Hahah yeah I figured. No worries it was pretty funny.
Edit: I actually don’t know what the actual translation of “Sick burn” would be now that I think about it.
Not a Brice de Nice fan? Elle s’est fait casseeeer.
Oddly enough, as an English speaker currently learning French, I got it immediately. Maybe that’s an ominous sign…
Its probably because “sick” is a slang term in English that doesn’t have an exact translation in french. From what I can find a word like “génial” or “super” might be closer since “malade” means physical sickness
Note I am also not a native french speaker
Malade is used that way in Quebec, probably as a direct translation from English I’d assume.
It’s the best that Google translate could do, lol
Deepl Translate is vastly superior btw
But would it have been as funny?
He probably just made the comment as a setup for this roast.
If so, that’s extremely clever setup.
Le ministre ne ment pas 🤷♂️
Personally I have always thought Attal to be unqualified and inapt for the role. Why is he not arguing about the political program of the opposition instead? Does he have any evidence of this accusation? Seems like a childish way to try to rule out and delegitimize the opposition (which is authoritarianism, not democracy). Le Pen’s far right populism is b…it but this is NOT the way to contrast it.
As loathe as I am to defend Attal, there are multiple documented instances of Le Pen and her party taking money from Russia. Not to mention that until 2022 they were outwardly supportive of Putin.
Does he have any evidence of this accusation?
If you’d taken the time to read the article, this link is right there.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/30/france-russia-interference-far-right/
