Today, I’d like to talk about a political interview that recently went viral in France. Gérald Darmanin, the current French Minister of the Interior (equivalent to the Secretary of Homeland Security in the US) was interviewed by journalist Apolline de Malherbe, which became heated when a sexist comment was made.
First, it is important to understand Darmanin’s background, because he is controversial and regularly the ire of women rights activists. He was appointed to his post in 2020 and this choice was highly criticized because he had been accused of rape and abuse of power by two women (he admitted having sex with the two women after they asked for his help in resolving a housing issue, however both cases have been closed for lack of evidence).
So, for some people, he is the poster boy for sexism and sexual harassment. And in this interview, the journalist questioned him pretty directly about the rise of violence and his failure to prevent it. He first responded with sarcasm “Je pensais qu’on était sur CNews mais on est bien sur BFM” which means “I thought we were on CNews, but we are on BFM.” CNews is another popular news channel often called “fake news TV,” or “far right TV” and sometimes even “French Fox News.” After she tells him firmly that this has nothing to do (mais je vois pas le rapport — the “mais” makes it stronger), he told her “ne vous vexez pas, non mais calmez-vous madame, ça va bien se passer” (don’t be offended, but calm down, madam, it is going to be ok) at 0:42.
In France, « calmez-vous madame » is a typical misogynistic phrase some men use against women, implying that they are volatile and to discredit their work; but Darmanin made it even worse by adding a condescending « ça va bien se passer » (it’s going to be ok). It was actually used by former president Sarkozy too in 2007 during the presidential debate against his then-opponent Ségolène Royal. At the time, Royal didn’t question his comment itself, and this strategy seemed working since he was elected and defeated her.
However, this time, 15 years later, things went differently, and backfired at him. The journalist didn’t give him a pass on this, she called him out right away. And many people in the media and on social media criticized his misogyny too. Here’s what she said (at 0:47):
“Je vous demande pardon!? Non mais Gérald Darmanin, attendez, oh, oh, je vous demande pardon!? Comment vous me parlez!?“
(Excuse me!? But Gérald Darmanin, wait a minute, hey, hey, excuse me!? How are you speaking to me!?)
This exchange may not sound too heated from an American point of view, but what she said is pretty harsh in French because not only did she interrupt the interview and directly pointed out his inappropriate tone (which Royal hadn’t done), but she added “oh, oh” which is belittling in French, often used to discipline young people or children, almost like snapping — which made me laugh I must admit. You also may notice that she didn’t inverse the verb and subject pronoun in her last question, which is very casual grammar, even if she uses the vous de politesse, so that added boldness and roughness too. It had a little bit of a street fight vibe.
That’s one of the reasons this went viral, because for once in France a woman didn’t accept this kind of behavior from a man in position of power!