DISINFO: Nathalie Loiseau's defence resembles justifications of the terrorists' host
SUMMARY
“I did not know it,” said Nathalie Loiseau, explaining her participation in student elections alongside right-wing activists 35 years ago. These words are similar to those of Jawad Bendaoud, host of the terrorists of November 13, 2015. In an interview on the day of the neutralization of Abdelhamid Abaaoud and his last accomplices, Jawad Bendaoud said he was not “aware that they were terrorists”. The former EU affairs minister and the current LREM leader in the European elections said she agreed to be on the list “out of friendship” and did not know there were “people from the far right “.
RESPONSE
In 1984, 35 years ago, when she was student in fourth year at Sciences Po (French Institute of Political Science), Nathalie Loiseau (then Ducoulombier) took part in students' election to the Governing Board the Institute of Political Studies, being at the sixth position on the list of the Union of students of the right (UED). During their campaign, the UED promised to "strongly oppose all proposals which, under the guise of 'democratisation', aim to establish demagogy and Marxist terrorism" at Sciences Po. She was never elected. Being asked in 2019, Nathalie Loiseau first could not recall the episode and later explained that she accepted the participation to please a friend without a chance of being elected and is not responsible for what became other candidates afterwards. Nothing allows to affirm the contrary so far. Long time French far rights researcher Jean-Yves Camus does not recall Ducoulombier as ever an activist of UED. While far right parties' researchers argue what kind of rightwing movement the student's union UED was in 1984 - from clearly far right in 1978 to more moderate after 1981 (François Mitterand's election), nothing allows to compare the participation in these activities and explanations about them to ignorance of hosting terrorists. In other not coherent Sputnik's narrative Nathalie Loiseau was described as a politician of a party which does nothing to fight against Islamisation of France, extrapolating her previous writing on tolerance towards the Islamic veil.