Par Michael Sadoun
Published on 05/06/2024 at 6:23 p.m., Updated on 05/06/2024 at 7:04 p.m.
Colombe, present at Marine Le Pen’s meeting on May 1 in Perpignan. Screenshot TF1/Paul Larrouturou
FIGAROVOX/TRIBUNE – For columnist Michaël Sadoun, the banishment of a volunteer from Restos du coeur, who was then reinstated by the association, is indicative of the tension of part of the left in despising the electorate which was nevertheless his.
Michaël Sadoun is a columnist and consultant.
An image worth a thousand words, especially on the Internet, the testimony of Colombe, 60 years old and beneficiary of the RSA, at the end of a meeting of the National Rally on May 1 embodied a reality that no one is unaware of: the working classes, particularly those from the provinces, deserted the ranks of the left to affiliate with Marine Le Pen.
The first thing we can say is that it is unfortunate that Les Restos du coeur, which last year distributed 171 million meals to 1.3 million people, is playing the wrong role in this affair. It is even sad that the political excesses of some of its executives could lead a part of the French or the media sphere to distrust a collective which has done so much good since its founding in 1985. Still, the sequence is singularly representative of the current configuration of the political landscape. The face moved to tears by Colombe leaving the Jordan Bardella meeting is first of all the indicator of the turning point taken by the popular electorate, as well as the change of foot of an RN which now articulates the migration and security question with the social question. “A whole part of the popular electorate who voted on the left went with weapons and baggage to the National Rally”Jérôme Fourquet aptly summed up this Sunday in Sonia Mabrouk’s show.
The banning of Colombe is no less revealing of the tension of a left which despises the electorate which was nevertheless its own, as one repudiates a disappointed love.
Michael Sadoun
The banning of Colombe is no less revealing of the tension of a left which despises the electorate which was nevertheless its own, as one repudiates a disappointed love. Instead of looking at the fate and concerns of the working classes who turn away from them, certain elites deploy great energy in explaining to them that their vote can only be that of a simple racist or a naive ignoramus. and incapable of understanding the tricks of populism. We are also surprised by the call to order from the association, which did not seem particularly bothered by the commitment of certain volunteers from the “Enfoirés”, like Camélia Jordana, regularly positioned on political subjects , or Vitaa who had written a song with her in which they “were annoying” Marine Le Pen.
We also see proof that right-wing political allegiances are less tolerated in social and professional settings than others. A statistical aggregation carried out by Luc Rouban for Cevipof showed this weekend that the vote for the “radical rights” is now represented at more than 25% in almost all professions, except among artists and teachers. Yet everyone has the feeling that these voters are neither visible nor audible in the daily environment. This omerta, which has long maintained a “hidden vote”, is regularly at the heart of scandals which all reveal this: there is discrimination in France based on political opinions. What Colombe experienced is what millions of other French people are experiencing. It is completely normal for a company to avoid making its premises a political battlefield, or for opinions that resemble extreme political marginality or worse to a call for violence to arouse at least mistrust from recruiters. from all sides. But what can we say when this opinion is held by more than 40% of the electorate?
Also read: Samuel Fitoussi: “As president of Sciences Po, I will establish positive discrimination in favor of right-wing students”
This discrimination in any case refutes the lifting of anonymity on social networks, demanded by the majority. How can you defend digital responsibility when so many political opinions can lead you to social exclusion? Can we imagine a society in which any employee could find themselves fired because they expressed a position against Europe, immigration or vaccination policy at other times? The media narrative creates a Manichaeism on all subjects in which one position is more uncomfortable to hold than the other. In this respect, it is interesting to note that those who defend digital responsibility are often those who hold the easiest or most accepted and consensual political positions in society. Their desire to put an end to anonymity can be as much akin to the identification of potential attackers – which the IP address already makes it possible to find – as to the intimidation of their political adversaries.
These democratic failures revealed by Colombe’s testimony made the success of a video seen by millions of Internet users. No need to recognize oneself in one’s opinions to display, like a large part of the political class, support for this worthy and popular France, generous but invisible, which is committed and which gives even when it no longer possesses anything of its own. other than his ballot.
