Following Jean-Luc Mélenchon's mispronunciation of his name at a Perpignan rally—drawing initial backlash and comparisons to Jean-Marie Le Pen—MEP Raphaël Glucksmann accused him on Franceinfo of invoking far-right antisemitic tropes. Mélenchon later apologized on X for the 'unintentional' slip.
In a Franceinfo interview on March 2, Raphaël Glucksmann, co-founder of Place publique and MEP, sharply criticized Mélenchon's March 1 rally remark as playing 'with names that sound Jewish or foreign,' contrary to republican tradition. He stated Mélenchon 'excludes himself from the left and the Republic,' dubbing him 'the Jean-Marie Le Pen of our time' and 'a mix of troublemaker and clown who plays with the worst codes of the French far right and antisemitism,' flattering 'the worst instincts in society.' Glucksmann reaffirmed that an electoral alliance with La France insoumise (LFI) remains impossible.
Mélenchon responded on X, regretting having 'unintentionally deformed' Glucksmann's name—alongside examples like Donald Trump or Mickaël Idrac—saying, 'Glucksmann's name provokes reactions even though I corrected it on the spot. I am the first sorry thinking of those it hurts. (…) It won't happen again.'
The exchange builds on the initial controversy (see prior coverage), echoing Mélenchon's recent irony over Jeffrey Epstein's name ('Epstine') and Le Pen's 1988 'Durafour crematorium' pun, for which he was convicted. At the rally, Mélenchon had defended LFI against antisemitism charges, insisting they fight 'anti-Jewish racism.'
