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Macron's advisor on historical memory issues met with Marion Maréchal in October, @lemondefr reports. Brings a little more clarity on Macron's recent comments on Pétain/Maurras -- those now seem more an Élysée electoral strategy than unfortunate gaffes. https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2020/12/27/un-conseiller-d-emmanuel-macron-a-dejeune-secretement-avec-marion-marechal-en-octobre-a-paris_6064601_823448.html?utm_campaign=Lehuit&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter
This is a big deal. Why?
Marion Maréchal is the granddaughter of convicted Holocaust denier Jean-Marie Le Pen (and niece of Marine Le Pen). Since 1995,
has acknowledged state's complicity in Holocaust.
But 2017 elex showed how many right-wing voters don't want to hear it
Marion Maréchal is the granddaughter of convicted Holocaust denier Jean-Marie Le Pen (and niece of Marine Le Pen). Since 1995,
has acknowledged state's complicity in Holocaust. But 2017 elex showed how many right-wing voters don't want to hear it
While Marine Le Pen is (nominally) estranged from her father, Marion Maréchal is a proud supporter of the old man. As she told me once: "I am the political heir of Jean-Marie Le Pen. At the Front National, we all are his heirs." https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/04/22/marion-marechal-le-pen-weve-won-the-battle-of-ideas/
Historical revisionism is a component of this particular right-wing project, as evidenced in the curriculum of the "university" she founded in Lyon in 2018 (for which Steve Bannon was an advisor). My story on that: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/a-scion-of-frances-le-pen-family-opens-a-training-academy-for-a-new-far-right-elite/2018/09/14/f3121292-b04c-11e8-8b53-50116768e499_story.html
A lot of what we've seen from Macron in recent months has appeared to be a means of currying favor with the right before the 2022 election. But this suggests that the "memory pitch" was being considered as part of that campaign. Quite surprising
