France: Florian Philippot, the man who surfs the wave anti-sanitary pass
Florian Philippot, president of the Les Patriotes party, arms raised in the procession of the anti-health pass demonstration, in Paris, July 31, 2021. REUTERS - SARAH MEYSSONNIER
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
He will be on the streets again this Saturday.
The ex-right arm of Marine Le Pen has established himself in recent weeks as one of the anti-health pass figures.
Enough to give it back a place on the political spectrum?
His former friends from the National Rally (RN) downplay.
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He was "
finished
", "
politically dead
", according to his former comrades, since his shattering departure from the RN.
Florian Phillipot believes in his
comeback.
Soon forty weeks that he is demonstrating every weekend against the government management of Covid-19, against confinement or wearing a mask,
For a long time, there were around a hundred and then it was the turning point on July 12 with the announcement of the
health pass
.
Since then, the
mobilization has grown
.
Behind him, but not only, more than 250,000 people in France in the middle of summer.
Faced with a Macron whom he considers “
brutal
”, “
liberticidal
”, the enarque is proud to be in dynamic with 25,000 members of his party Les Patriotes.
"It's more than the RN," he tackles.
"
His procession is not the one that brings together the most
", according to the RN
This is because unlike his old party, which plays a difficult balancing act so as not to appear alongside the most radical, Florian Philippot does not hesitate to appear with conspiratorial figures, even he insists: “
I am not an anti-vax, I am a sanitary anti-pass.
"
So Florian Philippot, who has since been a presidential candidate, could he hamper Marine Le Pen in 2022?
One year before the presidential election, at the RN, we minimize: "
His procession is not the one that brings together the most
", reassures the spokesman of the party, Philippe Ballard.
At the regional level, Florian Philippot's party has only managed to climb the list in one region to have three times less votes than the RN.
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Also to listen to: Florian Philippot: "We must stop the government of lies" [Morning guest]
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French politics
Marine Le Pen