A former Minister of the Interior shouldn’t say that. That’s what Xavier Bertrand thinks, after the reaction of Gérald Darmanin to the Paris public prosecutor’s demands against Marine Le Pen. On X, France’s former top cop judged “deeply shocking” that the RN leader is prevented from standing in the next elections, while she is threatened with a ineligibility for five years. “He shouldn’t have said that, especially a former Minister of the Interior.”said Xavier Bertrand on RTL.

The two men are nevertheless very close, as the President of the Hauts-de-France region asserts. “I have a lot of esteem and affection for him”.assures the former mayor of Saint-Quentin (Aisne), who challenges Gérald Darmanin to go “to the end of his thought by filing a “bill to abolish ineligibility”.. “In the meantime, the law exists. It applies to everyone and no one is above the law”.added Xavier Bertrand.

Marine Le Pen, a “weathervane

The unsuccessful candidate for the 2021 right-wing primary returned to the facts of Marine Le Pen’s accusation: “If the European Parliament has been wronged, it’s our taxes that have been embezzled. Who is responsible for this? That’s what the court will decide, not with the requisitions, but with the decisions.” Should the nationalist be convicted and thus prevented from running for the 2027 presidential electionXavier Bertrand refutes all “denial of democracy. “They have a spare candidate, his name is Bardella and he’s just waiting”he continued, before mocking the “great act of hypocrisy”. of the RN president.

President of Hauts-de-France criticizes Marine Le Pen an “double standards. The proof is in his comments dating back to 2004. “I’m fed up with these elected officials embezzling money”.said the nationalist, referring to Alain Juppé’s ineligibility sentence in the Paris City Hall bribe affair. “Pleasant reason that a wind handles and at all costs. Is that the definition of a weather vane? No, it’s the definition of Madame Le Pen too.”asserted Xavier Bertrand.