The chosen one does not change lines. LFI deputy Thomas Portes told BFMTV on Saturday that he would “redo” his tweet showing him with a balloon with the image of the Labor Minister, despite the sanction received on Friday, temporarily excluding him from the National Assembly. This is his first reaction after this announcement.
“I would do the tweet again if I had to do it again,” he says.
The elected representative of Seine-Saint-Denis received the maximum sanction on Friday by being excluded from the National Assembly for a period of 15 days. He had posted on Twitter on Thursday a photo of himself in his chosen tricolor scarf, showing his foot on a ball bearing the image of Olivier Dussopt. “I will withdraw my tweet the day this reform is withdrawn,” Thomas Portes had already proclaimed this Friday in the National Assembly.
“It is not a call to hate”
“I don’t have to apologize for a tweet that was not a hate speech,” said Thomas Portes, who insisted his post was in no way a “call for violence.”
“I said that if (this tweet) had been misinterpreted by people, I was sorry,” he admitted, however.
The Minister of Labor was carried away on Friday in the National Assembly, denouncing the violence of the tweet of the elected representative of Seine-Saint-Denis. “Do you want my head? (…) Do you want to continue with the violence? Do you also want to pose with my severed head?” Olivier Dussopt had launched in the direction of the elected rebels.
A “disproportionate” penalty
Thomas Portes also reacts to the announcement of his temporary exclusion from the Chamber, saying that he is “surprised” by a sanction that he describes as “disproportionate”.
This is a “political interpretation,” he says, noting that the caption to his tweet was about pension reform.
Thomas Portes also denounces a “very serious precedent”, drawing the parallel with the sanction received by the deputy of the RN Grégoire de Fournas. The latter had also been expelled from the National Assembly last November for the same period, but this time for statements considered racist made in the chamber.
If his tweet had been denounced by some members of the Nupes, such as Olivier Faure, others decided to show their support for their colleague. This is particularly the case for Ugo Bernalicis, who appeared with a ball during the demonstration this Saturday.
“Damn it, I didn’t have time to put good heads on it,” joked the rebel deputy.
Source: BFM TV
