The French left on Monday criticised the camp of Édouard Philippe, the Horizons candidate for the 2027 presidential election, after remarks linking the looting of shops on October 17 to immigration. The criticism focused in particular on government spokesperson Maud Bregeon, who supports the former prime minister and mayor of Le Havre.
Speaking on Franceinfo, Bregeon said Philippe had expressed what many French people think, arguing that France faces a real integration problem. Her comments drew accusations that she was echoing ideas associated with the far right.
Green candidate Marine Tondelier said Bregeon had adopted language historically used by Jean-Marie Le Pen and questioned why she remained in government. Communist lawmaker Ian Brossat also said Philippe’s wording resembled expressions used by the founder of France’s former far-right National Front when making racist statements.
In an interview with Le Point the previous week, Philippe had described as “obvious” an alleged overrepresentation of young people from immigrant backgrounds among those involved in the October 17 shop lootings. He reiterated the substance of those remarks during an interview broadcast by TF1 on Sunday evening.
On Monday, Philippe defended his position on X, saying that a diverse and united France must relearn how people of all origins can live together. He acknowledged that this was not always the reality and warned against rejecting others.
The former prime minister said national cohesion required renewed work on France’s integration model, along with a determined fight against discrimination affecting both French people from immigrant backgrounds and foreigners fully integrated into society. He was responding to Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who accused him of speaking out of electoral calculation rather than conviction.
Bregeon also defended Philippe by arguing that anyone positioned to the right of Olivier Faure, the Socialist Party’s first secretary, was now being labelled racist by Mélenchon.
Former prime minister Dominique de Villepin was the main critic from outside the left. He described Philippe’s remarks as evidence of a political shift and warned against reducing people to visible characteristics such as religion or skin colour. Faure likewise accused Philippe of drifting into racist prejudice.
Although his support has weakened in opinion polls, Philippe remains the best-placed candidate from the centre and right, according to the report, in a campaign currently dominated by the National Rally and La France Insoumise.
Sources: Le Monde Politique.