Jean-Luc Mélenchon compared to Goebbels on BFM TV: outcry internally and among the rebels

Be careful, Alain Jakubowicz says it "all things considered" ... Invited this Thursday, May 8, on the set of BFMTV, the lawyer and former president of the Licra said he saw "a parallel" between the figure of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and that of the Nazi Joseph Goebbels , Minister of People's Education and Propaganda under Hitler. In order to support his words and prove a certain resemblance, he details: "The Minister of People's Education and Propaganda. The all-powerful man that the people must follow. It's fascinating and at the same time it sends shivers down your spine."

Alain Jakubowicz then intervened at the very end of Apolline de Malherbe's broadcast, where the book La Meute co-written by Charlotte Belaïch, a journalist at Libération who investigated La France Insoumise , was briefly mentioned. "It tells the story of a fascist movement," he asserts. "A fascist movement?" the presenter asks again. "Well, obviously! For me, I see a parallel—I know I'm going to get sucked into it, but it doesn't matter—between Mélenchon and Goebbels." On the set, radio silence.

The sequence quickly made the rounds on rebellious social networks. "Words have meaning," recalls MEP Manon Aubry, who sees it as "the result of a filthy media campaign against the FI and Jean-Luc Mélenchon." "How can we accept that the democratic debate is drifting like this?" she asks. The party's coordinator, Manuel Bompard, emphasizes the absence of "contradiction from the media pack. How far will they go in ignominy? We await apologies and unanimous condemnations in the face of these disgraceful outrages."

The outcry was such that in the afternoon, presenter Apolline de Malherbe explained herself on her social networks – while avoiding mentioning the facts. “I am very attached to freedom of expression and the independence of my guests. But neither BFMTV nor I can be associated with comparisons like the one made this morning at the very end of the show, and which only commits its author,” she wrote on X. “ Is it so hard to say who and what you are talking about?” replied Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who then announced that he was filing a complaint for public insult. “He identified me with Joseph Goebbels, the anti-Semitic criminal,” the political leader reeled off. He also insulted our political movement, its members, and its voters, calling the rebels Nazis. All this on the anniversary of the defeat of Hitler’s Germany.”

On the BFMTV side, the Society of Journalists reacted by condemning on X "firmly condemns the comments made on air this morning by Alain Jakubowicz comparing Jean-Luc Mélenchon to Joseph Goebbels." She added: "Nothing justifies such a comparison with a figure of Nazism." In the process, the management of BFMTV in turn "deplored the comments made by Alain Jakubowicz. Freedom of expression does not justify outrage and defamation."

La France Insoumise has drawn considerable criticism in recent years for its alleged complacency toward anti-Semitism, partly based on its response to the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, as well as the comments of some of its leaders, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon . Published this week, the book La Meute also describes the Insoumis leader's hold on the organization, at the cost of verbal or psychological violence against rebellious leaders. The party denies all of these grievances, saying they are political attacks aimed at weakening it.

Updated at 6:40 p.m. with the condemnation of BFM management and the filing of a complaint by Jean-Luc Mélenchon.