Second tense moment during the municipal council of September 30 in Saint-Étienne. Socialist Pierrick Courbon asked Mayor Gaël Perdriau to condemn the comments made on the social network X by an account which appears to belong to deputy Christiane Michaud-Farigoule. Words that are akin to “potential racist and identity abuses” according to a press release from the Saint-Étienne opposition group tomorrow. The person concerned reacted: without ever denying that she was the owner of the account, she “disputes these accusations. more “keep your bias […] on immigration.“
“The primer for the perfect far-right activist”
“Immigration has become unmanageable, it is impoverishing our society and destroying our public services.” “We have no choice today but to vote RN, the other parties are anti-France.” These are the kind of statements that we could read on the X account @rosechris07, before he went private between the start of the municipal council on September 30 and the questioning of Pierrick Courbon during the session. In addition to these kinds of statements, the user regularly retweets far-right accounts and media outlets like F de Souche. It is ” the primer of the perfect far-right activist ” attacks Pierrick Courbon. He asks the mayor for explanations to the extent that Gaël Perdriau often presents himself as the incarnation of a right opposed to identity withdrawal and the extreme right.
Who is behind this account?
The opposition is of course considering potential identity theft or possible hacking of the account in question. But Saint-Etienne Demain notes that, on this same account, there are also publications linked to the elected work of Christiane Michaud-Farigoule. France Bleu Saint-Étienne Loire noted for its part that the “bio” of this anonymous X account is the same as the Facebook “bio” of Christiane Michaud-Farigoule, where she presents herself as deputy mayor of Saint-Étienne. This X account is also followed by many members of the Saint-Etienne majority or by tenors of the Loire rightlike the LR deputy Sylvie Bonnet, the mayor of Firminy Julien Luya, and Gaël Perdriau himself.
“I certainly dispute your accusations”
Christiane Michaud-Farigoule reacted at length in the municipal council to what she considers to be a “accusation“, defending his position on immigration.”I am not a National Rally activist, far from it. I am a former socialist.[…] For me, immigration is not a bad word.” She ended up concluding, without ever denying being behind this account – and after someone whispered these words to her : “I certainly dispute your accusations. and then there you go, I keep my bias on immigration.“
Explaining that he no longer uses Twitter, Gaël Perdriau did not wish to react “live” to this questioning. Reading a selection of tweets, Pierrick Courbon repeats: “Do you condemn the comments of your deputy?“Gaël Perdriau retorts: “No, because she didn’t hold them. I condemn the comments you have just cited.“The mayor then ended this discussion which was not on the agenda.
Request for condemnation of these remarks
Position difficult to maintain for the opposition group Saint-Étienne Avant tout (the nine elected formerly in the majority who joined the opposition in June). While the municipal council meeting is not over, they sent a press release. “We condemn with the greatest firmness the making or promotion of comments of a racist nature, which are even more unacceptable on the part of an elected official of the Republic. We therefore invite the Mayor to ask for explanations from Madame Michaud-Farigoule and to solemnly condemn the comments she allegedly made. If she officially confirms being the author, it would seem incomprehensible to us that this does not lead to any decision against her.”
A more detailed reaction from Gaël Perdriau arrived, via press release, in the evening. “I learned today at a public meeting of the municipal council that an elected member of the municipal team would have published on an anonymous account […] publications that are the opposite of the values held by our municipal majority. If this is the case, this public expression is totally reprehensible.” Without announcing sanctions against his deputythe mayor recalls that “more than ever we must come together and not add rejection to rejection. I expect each of us not to give in to the temptation of the easy solution or the scapegoat. […] The only community that matters in my eyes is the community of Stéphanoises without distinction of religion or skin color.”
This Tuesday morning, the account in question was deleted from X.
