Defence Minister Longuet makes far-right gaffe on RFI

French Defence Minister Gérard Longuet made an embarrassing gaffe on public radio on Friday identifying his UMP party with the far-right saying “we, the Front National” in an interview with Frédéric Rivière of RFI’s French service before correcting himself to say “they, the Front National ”. 

RFI

Friday’s slip follows a row earlier this week after Longuet, in an interview with far-right Minute magazine, saidFront Nationalleader, Marine Le Pen “unlike her father” Jean-Marie, the party’s firebrand founder was “someone we can speak to”.

In his youth, Longuet was part of an extreme right-wing movement Occident and has proved a controversial figure in the past.

In 2008, he compared homosexuality to pedophilia and criticized Gay Pride parades claiming they could lead some teenagers to commit suicide.

Meanwhile, President Nicolas Sarkozy re-iterated on French radio on Friday that he was totally against any agreement with the Front National party and he did not see any fundamental difference between Le Pen father and daughter.

“I have always been against [an agreement] and will continue to be against it because I do not share a certain number of their values over national priorities and zero immigration,” he said on Europe 1 radio. “And I have never found Mr Le Pen’s jokes funny.”