Florian Philippot and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, arsonists of the anti-tax and anti-pass movement

Published on : 07/26/2021 – 18:06

The movement to oppose the vaccination obligation and the health pass continues to gain momentum in France. Saturday, July 24, they were about 161,000 demonstrators marching across the country in the name of “freedom” and “against the health dictatorship” – 50,000 more than the previous Saturday, according to the count of the Ministry of the Interior . At the forefront of this challenge, two candidates for the 2022 presidential election, Florian Philippot and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, who denounce an “apartheid regime” and a “health coup”.

The health bill, which notably extends the application of the pass, was definitively adopted by Parliament on Sunday July 25. It is now up to the Constitutional Council to deliver its opinion on August 5.

For their part, the opponents planned to continue their movement. After a Parisian rally at Place du Trocadéro, last Saturday, Florian Philippot calls for demonstrations, Saturday July 31, from the Place du 18-Juin-1940, at the foot of the Montparnasse tower. Now at the head of the Patriots, the former lieutenant of Marine Le Pen at the National Front – which has since become the National Rally – and the leader of Debout la France do not hesitate to draw a parallel between their action and that of General de Gaulle 80 years ago, with a recurring word in their speech: “resistance”.

“We fully intend to resist by continuing to demonstrate to exert pressure, by continuing to strike, to take sick leave, to call for a boycott of the health pass,” said Florian Philippot, contacted by France 24.

“You will have to go to restaurants that do not control, you will have to go to cinemas below 50 [recevant moins de 50 personnes, ndlr], it will be necessary to do as the government: the carrot and the stick. Give the carrot to those who resist and the stick to those who collaborate “, calls, for his part, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan [sollicité par France 24, il n’a pas donné suite à notre demande d’interview, NDLR] in a video posted on Youtube July 24.

“People like Philippot or Dupont-Aignan are dangerous”

Beyond their opposition to the vaccination obligation for caregivers and the health pass, the former allies of the second round of the 2017 presidential election above all have in common a desire to play on the fears of the French.

Both question the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines offered in France. Both claim that vaccination does not prevent transmission of the virus and accuse the government to rule out treatment options – hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, vitamin D – which, according to them, would nevertheless be promising. So many assertions made on TV sets as truths, but contradicted by the facts.

>> To read: True or false: the arguments of the Covid-19 anti-vaccines scrutinized

“It’s cynical! Cynical! Because I know all three of them you figure, and I believe they are smart enough to know that what they say are lies”, sharply criticized on BFM TV the mayor of Béziers, close to the National Gathering, Robert Ménard, qualifying Floriant Philippot, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan but also François Asselineau of “barjots” attempting a political recovery.

“Some French people no longer trust politicians and some take advantage of them. But people like Florian Philippot or Nicolas Dupont-Aignan are dangerous because they misinform the French without realizing that words have a meaning and that they risk set the country on fire “, denounces to France 24 deputy La République en Marche de l’Hérault, Patrick Vignal, who recently received death threats because of his support for the health bill.

“It is the power which is radicalized and which wants to brutalize people”

The government is particularly vigilant to the evolution of the dispute which could, according to territorial intelligence, become radicalized, like the movement of yellow vests at the end of 2018.

In addition to death threats to parliamentarians, several vaccination centers have already been attacked and two journalists from France 2 who covered the demonstration in Marseille last weekend were insulted, pushed around and chased away by several individuals.

>> To read: The government groped in the face of anti-vaccine and anti-health pass

“For my part, I saw an extremely good-natured crowd at the Trocadéro,” said Florian Philippot, minimizing the incidents mentioned above. “There were no radical people. It is the power which is radicalized and which wants to brutalize people and caregivers.”

The supporter of “Frexit”, who claims 37 consecutive weeks of opposition to the government in the street, even to speak of “apartheid regime” to describe the action of the government. “I fully assume. Apartheid is not only in South Africa, it is also a common name when there are two systems of law in a country. With the health pass, we are exactly in This is the case. However, this system is deeply contrary to the soul of France “, judge Florian Philippot.

An opinion that the historian Jean-Luc Barré does not share: interviewed by France Culture on the subject of comparisons with apartheid or the Shoah by opponents of the health bill, the latter believes that their authors “devalue these words” and “forget what they really mean”. “If we remember it seriously, none of these words can apply to what we live today, he adds. None. And we do not realize that behind the way we exploit these words are held in the memory of people who have truly suffered from profound tragedies. “