"The more you attack him, the more votes he gains": the investigation into Mélenchon annoys LFI supporters

"Facts, nothing but facts," Olivier Pérou, co-author with Charlotte Belaïch of La Meute , an investigative book on the inner workings of La France Insoumise and its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, assured RMC this Wednesday. The journalist from Le Monde and the journalist from Libération thus spoke on the microphone of Les Grandes Gueules about the "hold" of the three-time presidential candidate "over his own people" and more generally over LFI activists.

A "fiction" denounced by the movement's coordinator, Manuel Bompard , who responded Wednesday on BFMTV that the activists do not spend their time making devotions to a leader" but "defend a program by conviction". For their part, the former close associates of the rebellious patriarch, Alexis Corbière and Raquel Garrido, purged during the 2024 legislative elections, confirmed the statements of the investigative book, the first claiming to be "the demonstration of brutal methods".

"If you hit him, for us he's the right one, he's the chosen one," jokes an LFI supporter, who criticizes the media treatment surrounding Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

"Gossip, no names, nothing specific...", denounces Maxime, a listener of Les Grandes Gueules and a supporter of LFI. "Why are people surprised? In France, we like strong men. Your book goes 'pschtt', it's productive for left-wing voters," he asserts, taking the opportunity to criticize the media: "If you don't like him and you criticize him, for us, he's the right one, he's the chosen one," he says, half-amused, half-serious. "There's not a single media outlet that doesn't criticize Mélenchon, I've never seen a mafioso or a rotten person (sic) who's attacked as much as him!"

"It's Mélenchon's speech, it's the system he's attacking," retorts Charlotte Bélaïch, while Olivier Pérou highlights the "documents, text messages, and exchanges with activists" that punctuate their book, the result of a two-year investigation involving 200 people. Rejecting an initial "preconceived notion" or a desire to write a damning book, the journalist from Le Monde specifies that their work aims to highlight the "gap between Jean-Luc Mélenchon's progressive speech and program and his internal actions and methods."

"We must ask ourselves the question of ethics," agrees Charlotte Belaïch, who concedes that "the cult of the leader and the sycophancy exist in other political parties." She nevertheless claims a book "expected, even by Mélenchon's voters, because MPs and officials, off the record, are beginning to worry about 2027 and about serving as a stepping stone for the far right."

The question, pending for some, already decided for others, remains whether Jean-Luc Mélenchon will run - for a fourth time - for the presidency in two years. "I don't believe in the state that (he) can reach the Élysée," Clémentine Autain , who had announced, after the 2024 legislative elections, her decision to no longer sit within the LFI parliamentary group, said on RMC-BFMTV this Thursday.