Freed, in a sense, from the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) with the other left-wing parties – which he acknowledged had come to an end on Saturday, December 2 – Jean-Luc Mélenchon is inexorably continuing with his strategy of creating conflict. On Sunday, December 3, the founder of La France Insoumise (LFI) provoked a new scandal, calling Ruth Elkrief a "manipulator" on X, in the wake of a tense interview between Elrief, a journalist at French news television channel LCI and LFI's second-in-command Manuel Bompard. "If you don't insult Muslims, this fanatic becomes outraged," continued Mélenchon, in what has become a trademark move, provoking fury from some and unyielding defense from others.
On the side of the outraged, government spokesman Olivier Véran denounced a "despicable attack." Transport Minister Clément Beaune condemned "a repugnant message" with the sole aim of "boosting the far right." On the right, Les Républicains (LR) party leader Eric Ciotti expressed his "support" for Ruth Elkrief, calling Mélenchon a "vulgar fatwa-slinger" and a "collaborator of the Islamists." The LR president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region (southeast France), Laurent Wauquiez, accused him of "politically embodying the new anti-Semitism," "probably out of pure electoral cynicism".
On the left, there were fewer reactions. Only the national secretary of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (Greens), Marine Tondelier, asked him to "delete" his post. She had herself been targeted – without being called out by name – by the LFI leader on November 30, at a conference in Rochefort, southwestern France. "Go into a working-class housing estate, holding the hand of a Green [party member] who has explained that 'Allah Akbar' is stupid, and you'll see who's the dead weight, him or her?" This rhetorical question, quipped in front of a sympathetic audience, was a direct allusion to the Greens leader, who had considered after an October 19 pro-Palestinian demonstration that it was "stupid and shocking in the context" to chant "Allah Akbar" at the rally. She later apologized for this.
Following a well-oiled choreography, Mélenchon's entire close-knit guard then jumped in to defend him. "The media-political system feels threatened and is defending itself," LFI MP Ugo Bernalicis wrote on X. His colleague Antoine Léaument pointed to "the media-political caste," comparing it to a "self-centered, closed-off world whose navel-gazing is matched only by its disconnection," implying a detachment from French people's lives. "She plays politics, so do we. We pay [her] back blow for blow," said LFI MP Hadrien Clouet, referring to Ruth Elkrief. But despite appearances, the LFI founder's latest outburst has not been met with unanimous approval within his party. Some have said that they are "tired" of the repeated polemics, whereas they had been led to believe that he would "calm down" a little.
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