Hulot affair: Matthieu Orphelin, spokesperson for Yannick Jadot, “withdrawn” from the EELV campaign – LCI

The Hulot affair shakes up Yannick Jadot’s campaign. Matthieu Orphelin, spokesperson for the candidate of Europe Ecology-The Greens for the presidential election and close to Nicolas Hulot, was put “withdrawing from its responsibilities”, announced the campaign director, Mounir Satouri on Saturday evening. The former minister and television man was accused of rape and sexual assault by several women on the Special Envoy program, which aired two days earlier.

“It was decided to withdraw Matthieu Orphelin from his responsibilities as spokesperson in the environmental presidential campaign. The serenity necessary for the exercise of his functions is no longer possible following the revelations of the Special Envoy”, he explained in a press release, with reference to the new accusations against Nicolas Hulot, for which the Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.

The new testimonies against Nicolas Hulot feed “full of questions for a few days on the state of reality of what relatives knew” of the former host and former minister, according to him. This is why he was judged “opportune to release him from this responsibility (of spokesperson) and to leave him free of his answers and his communication”.

In a press release published Saturday evening on his social networks, Matthieu Orphelin indicates “take note” of this decision, and reiterates its “full support for the victims who had the courage to give these testimonies”. “The only thing that counts is listening to the victims and the end of this scourge of gender-based and sexual violence”, says the deputy.

Matthieu Orphelin also ensures that he “had meant this week to Yannick Jadot” he “wished to end” to his duties as spokesperson in the coming days for political reasons. According to him, this decision was taken “after several unheard alerts to candidate Jadot, given the difficulties of the campaign and (his) non-adherence to strategic choices”.

Matthieu Orphelin aims in particular “the absence of mobilization on young people, of consideration for the dynamics of the popular primary, internal tensions” or “the difficulties in mobilizing all the components of ecology”.