Every morning, Nicolas Beytout, the director of the newspaper "L'Opinion" analyzes the political news and gives us his point of view.
This Monday, he returns to a statement by Christophe Castaner who said in "Le Parisien" that Marine Le Pen was his "enemy" a few months before the next presidential election.
The presidential race is well underway.
Former Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told
Le Parisien
newspaper on Sunday
that Marine Le Pen was his enemy ...
"Yes, his enemy and not his adversary. The boss of the deputies of the Republic En Marche does not go four ways:" I make the difference ", he said," between my political adversaries and the enemies of the Republic .
The enemies of the Republic are my enemies, and Marine Le Pen is an enemy of the Republic ". This kind of declaration is quite rare, not very much in keeping with democratic tradition. In the political game, in the debate, in the controversy, we fight against adversaries, not against enemies.
So is it a Christophe Castaner slip?
No, it is on the contrary very calculated.
One of the objectives of this attack was to reframe the discourse on the National Rally after the Darmanin-Le Pen debate.
On several occasions, the Minister of the Interior had tried to bring out of his role a Marine Le Pen who overplayed the smile and the soft side, in order to give himself a peaceful image.
On several occasions, Gérald Darmanin has described her as too soft or not hard enough in the face of Islamism, just to flush out another Marine Le Pen, more sectarian and conforms to the image that precisely the boss of the National Rally is trying to wipe off.
The result is an effect taken from judo ...
Taking judo?
You mean when using the strength of the opponent?
Exactly: by dint of trying to unbalance his opponent, Gérald Darmanin allowed himself to be drawn into arguing that his line, that of the Minister of the Interior of Emmanuel Macron, was harsher than that of Marine Le Pen.
As if the majority were, on the themes of Islamism, more to the right than the right of the right.
Guaranteed effect ... And it did not drag on, since several voices within La République en Marche have admitted their discomfort with this strategy.
And that's why Christophe Castaner placed such a stiff attack ...
Yes, to correct the situation, to re-demonize Marine Le Pen.
A close friend of Emmanuel Macron told me on Sunday that Gérald Darmanin's strategy was perfectly defended: it was necessary, he explained, to mobilize this part of Emmanuel Macron's electorate who wants regal, security, more public order.
It is true, and it is a way of beating from the first round the recall of the voter rather located on the right.
Except that the problem of the Head of State is becoming more and more the second round, where it will be necessary to rally wide against the probable presence of Marine Le Pen.
And how to mobilize the left-wing voter, how to prevent him from abstaining if he feels that the Macron line is harsher than the Le Pen line?
It's complicated in politics to do judo. "