Words he does not dispute. The LR mayor of Roanne Yves Nicolin was strongly criticized on Tuesday for remarks deemed racist by the Socialist Party of the Loire, which demands a “firm condemnation” of the Republican Party before the second round of the legislative elections.
“Those who go out at night tend to go out in the summer. They are a breed that likes heat and good weather. In the winter, they are more peaceful,” the city councilor said in a recording obtained by AFP.
“Abject racism”
He spoke on Monday at a press conference to present a local night police brigade, explaining that its hours could change. These comments were reported by the local newspaper Le Pays. Without contesting the comments made, the mayor tried to get the newspaper not to publish them.
Denouncing words “which are smack of abject racism, which has no place in the mouth of a political leader”, the PS Federation in the Loire asked the Republicans for a “firm condemnation” of the words spoken by their elected representative.
If they refuse, the PS threatens to withdraw its support for the LR deputy of the 5th constituency of the Loire, Antoine Vermorel-Marques, in whose favour it called for a vote on Sunday to block the RN.
Yves Nicolin “apologized” for using the word race in a “clumsy” way. “I used this word clumsily to talk about categories of delinquency but in no way in the sense of the word racism. I wanted to highlight that there was a different type of delinquency in the summer rather than in the winter, at night rather than during the day,” he said, denouncing a “pointless controversy.”
