Controversial Rapper Médine’s Invitations Spark Political Backlash in France

Rapper Médine is invited to the summer universities of Europe Écologie les Verts (EELV) and France Insoumise (LFI) scheduled for August 24 and August 26 respectively. He will also be at the Fête de l’Humanité in September, the festival organized by the newspaper close to the Communist Party. These invitations have quickly provoked strong reactions from the Rassemblement national (RN), but also from the "macronists". On Friday, Clément Beaune called on France Insoumise and EELV to disinvite Médine from their summer events. But these left-wing parties are not about to comply with the wishes of the Minister of Transport. "Since we were in his city (Le Havre), it seemed normal to us to invite him. He immediately responded favorably and very nicely," explained Marine Tondelier, the national secretary of the EELV party, to Libération.

Médine is accused of anti-Semitism after his pun on X (Twitter) on Thursday addressed to Franco-Gambian essayist Rachel Khan, a Jew and granddaughter of a deportee. He described her as a "resKHANpée", meaning: a "person who has been thrown out of the Hip-Hop scene, drifting to social traitors and literally eating at the table of the far right". She had compared him to "trash." "It’s all said..." reacted Rachel Khan. A controversy is raging. The next day, the rapper responds: "No ambiguity. I attacked the professional career of Rachel Khan. The inappropriate formula, which certainly must have hurt some people and I apologize for it, was not directed at her family or the victims of the Shoah tragedy." Words that are far from convincing a dozen Macronist deputies who are demanding that LFI and EELV give up.

The EELV leader doesn’t see it that way. Marine Tondelier defends the "interesting career of the rapper" who has opened his "eyes to his mistakes". On the web, we can see him in several photos, about ten years ago, taking up the "quenelle", an anti-Semitic gesture popularized by the controversial comedian Dieudonné. The latter was convicted of anti-Semitism. In 2015, he released "Don’t Laïk", in which he sings: "Let’s crucify the secularists like at Golgotha". Criticized by his detractors, Médine will explain