Paris (France) (AFP) – Jean-Luc Mélenchon criticized Edouard Philippe's interview on TF1's 8 p.m. on Sunday and claimed not to go to the set on Monday, with the channel conversely assuring that the interview with the rebellious leader had already been canceled at the time he made this announcement.

Published on: 02/11/2026 - 09:35

“Anne-Claire Coudray echoes the racist slanders of Édouard Philippe. Who delivers his disgusting speech without being interrupted. Monday, I will not go to the 8 p.m. show on this channel,” wrote, without further details, the rebellious candidate on X on Sunday evening, a few minutes after the mayor of Le Havre appeared on the television news of the first channel.

Asked by AFP, TF1 assured for its part that “the arrival of Jean-Luc Mélenchon had been canceled/postponed” at the “end of the week”. "It is therefore not a decision taken at the end of the interview with Edouard Philippe" since the arrival of Mr. Mélenchon "was already no longer relevant for this Monday", argued the channel.

“Anne-Claire Coudray conducted her interview with professionalism and rigor, questioning Édouard Philippe on his comments made in Le Point,” TF1 also estimated in a message Monday morning on the social network X.

Neither LFI nor TF1 had announced the interview with Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the channel where he formalized his candidacy for the presidency of the Republic in May.

“The 8 p.m. invitations to candidates for the presidential election are announced by TF1 when they are confirmed,” the channel said on X.

After the riots of October 17, Édouard Philippe considered that "the over-representation of young people from immigrant backgrounds" in the violence surrounding the demonstrations was "patent" and had pointed out the "failure of integration" for "several decades" in France.

“What conclusion did you draw from this observation?” Anne-Claire Coudray, the presenter of 20H, asked him on Sunday evening.

“In the images that we saw of the looting, there were in fact a certain number and a significant number of young French people, no doubt, who I consider to be French, with an immigrant background. Which reflects a subject that we must look eye to eye,” declared the former Prime Minister in particular.

In the evening, Édouard Philippe responded to the rebellious leader on

A message to which Jean-Luc Mélenchon in turn reacted, accusing Édouard Philippe on the same social network of “racialist cronyism”.

Since the racist attack in Trappes, the Insoumis have accused television channels of allowing far-right racist words to proliferate.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a regular slayer of "media officiality", has long had conflicting relations with the press. He regularly castigates the media on his X account with 2.7 million subscribers, and sometimes directly the journalists whose articles he challenges.

© 2026 AFP

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