The National Rally, Donald Trump's last defender?
While the Republican camp itself - down to Vice President Mike Pence - let go of the outgoing US president, following violence perpetrated by his supporters on Wednesday in Washington, Marine Le Pen's party expressed a strange leniency to the regard to the billionaire and his supporters.
Trump supporters numbered several thousand in front of Capitol Hill as the US election results validation session took place.
After clashes with the police, some broke into the precincts of Parliament, interrupting the democratic process.
Donald Trump himself, spoke in front of the demonstrators, continuing to declare the election "stolen".
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Thursday morning, the president of the RN, Marine Le Pen, went there in two stages.
“I am extremely shocked by these images of violence.
In a democracy we must defend the right to demonstrate, but peacefully.
Any act of violence which aims to attack the democratic process is inadmissible, ”she denounced on France 2. Condemnation in the same tone by Louis Aliot, mayor (RN) of Perpignan, on Twitter, recalling that“ violence no 'has no place in the democratic debate ”.
VIDEO. Violence on Capitol Hill: Biden denounces "unprecedented aggression" against democracy
But while the RN North MP was clear in her denunciation, she refused to acknowledge Trump's responsibility.
"He did not measure the impact of his remarks on some of these people", defended Le Pen, denouncing there "extremists" that she said she did not want "to confuse [...] with the 72 million of voters who voted "for Trump.
Too bad if the person concerned has been asserting for weeks that the election was stolen from him, that he will never accept the result, and that the demonstration which overflowed in violence was signed - all flags out - Trump.
"Desperate and Lost Americans"
For a long time, the National Assembly wanted to see Trump's presidency in the United States as the foreshadowing of his future success.
"Clearly, the victory of Donald Trump is an additional stone in the emergence of a new world, which aims to replace an old order", declared Marine Le Pen in 2016 to the BBC, the day after the election of the American billionaire.
For a long time too, the whole RN refused to acknowledge its defeat on November 3, when none of the accusations of fraud seemed to be true.
On social networks, many RN executives have played down the events in Washington, which even the powerful Republican Senator Mitt Romney has described as "an insurrection, instigated by the President of the United States".
"Do I have the right to say that they
(Editor's note: the rioters)
look more like desperate and lost Americans than dangerous militiamen?"
Stop caricature ”, played down MEP Thierry Mariani, specifying that he disowned their actions.
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"100 guys who spend an hour in Parliament", sums up Antoine Baudino, elected from Bouches-du-Rhône and collaborator of Senator Stéphane Ravier.
When Damien Rieu, co-founder of the far-right group Generation Identity and parliamentary assistant RN, quipped about the “four broken windows” of the Capitol.
Same tone for many local RN executives, sometimes turning towards conspiracy.
Thus, the regional councilor of Hauts-de-France, Mireille Chevet, on Facebook: "The coup d'état, the trampled democracy, it is not the angry people who are the author, but the FRAUDORS and their accomplices .
The Trumpist indignation is legitimate ”, writes the elected official, who attributes the degradations to“ antifas disguised as supporters of Trump ”.
No condemnation either from Florian Philippot, former vice-president of the RN, now leader of the Patriots, who justifies these "uncontrollable reactions".
4 years of humiliation and contempt, until the refusal to investigate the accusations of massive fraud, create uncontrollable reactions.
You have to be damn twisted to pretend to be offended.
The conditions of peace demand respect from all.
#Capitol #America
- Florian Philippot (@f_philippot) January 6, 2021
At the RN, we preferred to focus our criticism on Twitter and Facebook, which - historic first - censored certain messages from Donald Trump.
“He must condemn this violence, but he still has to be able to do it, especially on social networks!
Can the digital giants decide who has the right to speak?
“Asked Marine Le Pen on France 2.
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Both Twitter and Facebook blocked a video message in which he called on the rioters to return home, while specifying “we love you” and continuing to denounce a “fraudulent election”. "This is an emergency and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including the removal of President Trump's video [...], which ultimately contributes to the risk of violence rather than reducing it," justified a Facebook leader when Twitter denounced "serious and repeated violations" of their "civic integrity policy".
