French President Emmanuel Macron faces a big first test of leadership this week as the country can speak about only one thing: did he or did he not?
The ‘he’ in question is 35-year-old Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin, a favorite of many French ladies with his good looks, who stands accused of raping a 39-year-old call girl.
Given that Mr Macron, who gets on famously well with US President Trump, was elected on a promise of ‘new and clean’ politics, many of his adversaries are calling for the minister’s resignation. The latter has so far refused, calling his accuser a liar and a whore.
His Lawyer Mr Pierre-Olivier Sur spoke in defense of Darmanin after it was announced that the rape accusation had triggered the opening of a preliminary judicial inquiry: “she’s a liar, a liar, and a cheat”. And asked if his client would be resigning his position, Mr Sur said: “There’s absolutely no question of that happening.”
Macron's rising star, Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin, accused of rape https://t.co/nBQ8tHyc9c pic.twitter.com/vGR024J96k— dwnews (@dwnews) January 29, 2018
The scandal revives memories in France of ex-IMF chief Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who you may recall was arrested by New York police at JFK airport trying to board a plane to Paris, after having sexually assaulted a maid in a luxury hotel in 2011. Mr Strauss-Kahn settled financially with the New York hotel maid, ending his presidential ambitions immediately.
A rape accusation against France’s budget minister Gérald Darmanin is roiling the government of President Emmanuel Macron, threatening to claim another casualty in an upheaval over sexual assault allegations. https://t.co/93uTeh38IE— gettingsome (@gettingsome) January 30, 2018
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At least he likes girls as opposed to grandmas.