French PM accused of ostracizing colleagues for ‘mansplaining’

France’s young prime minister, Gabriel Attal, has been accused of typical ” “Mansplaining” behavior.

Politicians of all stripes have joined the attack, saying Attal’s impromptu intervention did Ms Haye no good and made her look marginalized and redundant.

“If Atal would never allow himself to do this [Ms Hayer] It’s a man,” said Marine Le Pen, president of the far-right National Rally (RN).

“She may be my political opponent, but the way the prime minister has humiliated her… is completely disgraceful.”

Attal, 35, France’s first openly gay prime minister, made a surprise appearance on stage during a broadcast debate organized by state broadcaster France News on Monday morning.

Amid sparse applause in the auditorium and Ms Haye’s embarrassed laughter, the Prime Minister said: “I’m very sorry for intruding like this – I was just doing an interview upstairs and it was very nice for me to come and support Valerie. important.

He then spent three to four minutes talking about the challenges Europe faces in this weekend’s elections and why young voters in particular should choose President Macron’s Ennahda party.

At the conclusion of the presentation, Ms. Heyer’s speaking time was deducted from her allotment.

Comments from other opposition leaders immediately flooded X (formerly Twitter) questioning why Mr Attal could not simply let his party’s candidate, an experienced MEP, lead the campaign himself.

“I share the outrage of many people to see the Prime Minister and the President rubbing their feet in Valerie Hale’s feet,” Green Party leader Marie Toussaint said.

For Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist Party: “Macron and Attal are doing everything they can to undermine and cover up their candidate. They are putting themselves in her place every day.

Ms Heyer had little public profile in France before the campaign but could be defeated at the weekend by a national rally led by 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, its leader.

The latest polls show Mr Badela’s Republican support at 33%, while Ms Heyer is competing with the Socialists at around 15%.

Commentators say President Macron and Attal appear to be losing faith in their top candidate’s dwindling campaign, which is why they have both put themselves on the media frontline.

Mr Attal has engaged in a two-way election debate with Jordan Bardella, a move that has drawn angry attacks from other parties who say Renaissance and RN are turning politics into Macron’s There is a common interest in the ongoing battle between the president and the far right.

Macron, who has also been accused of unfairly exploiting presidential prerogatives to help his party in the election, gave a major speech on Europe last month and gave a television interview on the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings on Thursday.

“It’s a bit chauvinistic, isn’t it?” said Francois-Xavier Bellamy, the leader of the conservative Republican list. He summed up Mr Attal’s intervention as: “Listen Valerie, I can do better than you; I will explain how it works in European elections.”

“Please, when will this stop?” he added. “Is it normal for executives to spend their time in the media during a campaign?”