It all started with a question from journalist Apolline de Malherbe who asked Mr. Darmanin in her morning if the executive had not "woke up a little late", with Emmanuel Macron's announcement of a law on internal security in the last months of the five-year term, while the figures for 2021 show an increase in attacks on people.

"I looked at your logo, I thought we were on Cnews but in fact we are on BFM", first quipped Gérald Darmanin, before criticizing a "very fast and somewhat populist presentation", insisting on reduction in property damage.

"No, but don't get upset, calm down Madam, it will be fine," continued the minister as the journalist protested, considering that it was "not an answer" but "almost an offense".

Saying he was "fed up with populist speeches all day", the minister criticized him for "not even mentioning the drop in (acts committed against) property", a "misleading presentation" according to him which means that "a part of the media" are "responsible" for "the general and continuous increase in populism for many years".

While conceding that "there are very strong increases in attacks against people".

The RN candidate Marine Le Pen immediately reacted on Twitter: "Obviously, G. Darmanin does not assume the serious failure of his policy and responds with inappropriate aggressiveness".

"Faced with the abyssal sinking of Emmanuel Macron's security policy, his minister is losing his temper with Apolline de Malherbe", added Eric Zemmour.

The Pécresse2022 account, support for candidate LR, preferred irony: “Above all, do not talk about the explosion of violence and attacks on Gérald Darmanin and Emmanuel Macron’s failure in terms of security, they seem that 'they are very susceptible!'

JOEL SAGET AFP/Archives

The LR party saw in the sequence the proof of "Macronist contempt episode 852" and denounced the fact that "to avoid any criticism of his sad record, Gérald Darmanin sticks the label of populist on you".

On the left, the national secretary of EELV Julien Bayou denounced the "crass sexism" of the minister, who does not "forget the relevance of the journalist's remark: yes the government has failed or given up on the safety of people and in especially women".

Former minister Laurence Rossignol pointed to "the old misogynistic scheme which consists in destabilizing women by implying that they do not hold their nerves and are hysterical".

For its part, the society of journalists of BFMTV recalls on twitter that "journalists are free to ask questions which seem relevant to them" and "is surprised by the tone and the words used by the minister".

The indicators of the Ministry of the Interior communicated at the beginning of February show for 2021 an increase in attacks on persons of 12%, and a stability in attacks on property after a sharp drop in 2020 against the backdrop of the pandemic.

© 2022 AFP