A first public statement from the new Minister of Labor and Solidarity that has already ended in controversy. Guest at 8 p.m. On France 2, Jean-Pierre Farandou was widely criticized for his comments used to justify the suspension of the pension reform.
“We are not deaf, we are not autistic, we can see that this reform is not approved,” said the former director of the SNCF.
The validist comments were quickly denounced on social networks, both by political actors and by citizens shocked by the sequence. “It is not clumsiness, it is a disgusting validist contempt,” writes the LFI-NFP deputy for Rhône, Anaïs Belouassa Cherifi.
“Autism is neither a defect nor an insult,” adds Sébastien Paytavie, Génération deputy. “Words matter, especially when they come from a Minister of Solidarity.”
Marie-Charlotte Garin, environmentalist deputy for the Rhône, also intervened. “Being autistic is not an inability to understand things. It is a particularity of neurodevelopment, not a lack of intelligence or empathy. These words hurt, stigmatize, perpetuate clichés (…). A Minister of Labor must be exemplary in terms of inclusion, not contribute to ordinary violence.”
“Find out about the solidarity of your ministry”
Many Internet users on social media also said they were “shocked” to have heard the Minister of Labor and Solidarity use the word “autistic” in this context. “It’s mostly stupid, my intellectual abilities are intact and much more than that,” says Sophie about X.
“Find out about the famous solidarity of your ministry,” presenter Marie Palot also responds. The Collectif Handicaps association also reacted. “It would be really good if the Minister of Solidarity avoided using the term ‘autistic’ indiscriminately!”
Faced with the growing controversy, Jean-Pierre Farandou apologized on the social network X at the end of the evening, a few hours after his interview. “By using the term autistic, my words were hurtful and that was not my intention. I am sincerely sorry and I apologize,” he said.
Source: BFM TV
