Sébastien Lecornu adopts Ali Rabeh's warning about speeches that arm attackers but accuses the left of exploiting the Trappes attack
Sébastien LecornuPrime Minister of France, answering questions to the government in the National Assembly
Answering questions in the National Assembly four days after the attack, the Prime Minister calls it a terrorist and racist attack and says he makes his own the mayor of Trappes's words about speeches that arm those capable of acting. Later in the session he accuses left-wing deputies of political profiteering and says that in believing they are fighting racism they are playing into the hands of the far right and the RN.
“For several days, the mayor of Trappes has been repeating the right words. ... I make those words entirely my own. ... Everything smells of political profiteering, everything bears the mark of indignity. ... Believing you are fighting racism, you are playing into the hands of the far right and the Rassemblement national (Translated from French. Original: Depuis plusieurs jours, le maire de Trappes répète des mots justes. ... Ces mots, je les fais entièrement miens. ... Tout sent le recel politicien, tout marque l'indignité. ... Croyant combattre le racisme, vous faites le jeu de l'extrême droite et du Rassemblement national)”
Original text
Original text
Where this statement fits
Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh says Rassemblement national leaders bear responsibility for the racist attack in his town; RN officials reject the accusation
On October 23, 2026, a gunman shot at passers-by in Trappes and neighboring La Verrière, west of Paris, killing Pengo Bossio Wangi, a 26-year-old Black Frenchman, and wounding seven people, including a 12-year-old girl. France's national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office opened an investigation for murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, with the aggravating circumstance that the victims were targeted for their real or supposed race, ethnicity, nation or religion. According to anti-terrorism prosecutor Olivier Christen, the suspect, charged on October 29, admitted specifically targeting people he took to be Muslim, African or North African and chose Trappes because he saw it as a den of Islamists. Stickers praising the Rassemblement national (RN) were found at his home; he told investigators he was not a member or supporter of any party. Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh called the shooting a racist and probably Islamophobic attack and said that speeches blaming the country's ills on Arab Muslims kill. In an open letter on October 26 he wrote that Jordan Bardella and his party had placed a target on the back of every resident of Trappes, and at a rally in the town on October 30 he said RN leaders bear direct responsibility for the attacker's act, citing Bardella's description of Trappes as an Islamic republic in miniature. RN officials rejected the accusation. Sébastien Chenu, president of the RN group in the National Assembly, stood by Bardella's words and called Trappes a hotbed of jihadists; spokesperson Julien Odoul called the accusations delirious; and deputy Laure Lavalette said the RN is totally innocent of the tragedy. On November 10 Bardella said left-wing and far-left leaders, naming the mayor of Trappes and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, were putting fatwas and targets on the backs of political figures.
Source and context
Original text
About this source
The National Assembly's official record of its October 27, 2026 sitting, the first session of questions to the government after the Trappes attack, held in the presence of Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh and the family of Pengo Bossio Wangi. The second address is the Assembly's open-data XML version of the same record.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Original text
About this source
The National Assembly's open-data XML version of its official record of the October 27, 2026 sitting, the first session of questions to the government after the Trappes attack. It holds the same text as the record's web page.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
At the first questions to the government after the attack, held with Rabeh and the family of Pengo Bossio Wangi in the gallery, Ecologist group president Cyrielle Chatelain criticized RN leaders who still call Trappes a jihadist hotbed and asked for a national tribute. Lecornu answered that the shooting was a terrorist and racist attack, then turned to the mayor's words about speeches that arm those capable of acting.
After the quotation
In his first answer Lecornu called for a fight against every form of violence, racism, antisemitism, discrimination and homophobia. His second answer followed a question from RN group president Sébastien Chenu, during which Socialist and Ecologist deputies left the chamber. Lecornu said past terrorist attacks had brought a reflex of republican unity and a period of decency, and that the session smelled of the presidential campaign, before addressing left-wing deputies.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the public rhetoric of Rassemblement national leaders and other far-right politicians about Trappes, Muslims and immigrants, which Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh holds responsible for the October 23, 2026 racist attack in Trappes and La Verrière. Lecornu adopts Rabeh's warning that speeches can arm people capable of violence, which accepts the mayor's point about rhetoric without naming the RN. He also accuses the left of exploiting the attack and of helping the far right. The two parts point in different directions, so we treated the statement as mixed.
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More from this case
Read the full caseRN spokesperson Andréa Kotarac says Marine Tondelier shames herself by blaming the RN for the Trappes attack and announces legal action
“By directly accusing @RNational_off of the racist attack in #Trappes, Ms. Tondelier is covering herself in shame. I am informing you that we are bringing legal proceedings against this person and her fake news. (Translated from French. Original: En accusant directement le @RNational_off de l'attentat raciste de #Trappes, Madame Tondelier se couvre de honte. Je vous informe que nous engageons une procédure judiciaire contre cette personne et ses fakenews.)”Read statement
Marine Tondelier says the RN should explain itself rather than sue her over her remarks on the Trappes attack
“It is up to the Rassemblement national to explain itself rather than to take me to court ... They must draw the consequences (Translated from French. Original: C'est au Rassemblement national de s'expliquer plutôt que de m'attaquer en justice ... Il faut qu'ils en tirent les conséquences)”Read statement
Ali Rabeh says words always come before acts and that RN rhetoric about Trappes has not stopped since the attack
“Words always come before acts ... We cannot let our public debate be rotted by extremely violent words (Translated from French. Original: Les mots précèdent toujours les actes ... Nous ne pouvons pas laisser notre débat public pourri par des mots extrêmement violents)”Read statement
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- Sébastien Lecornu adopts Ali Rabeh's warning about speeches that arm attackers but accuses the left of exploiting the Trappes attack
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The Dispute Index. "Sébastien Lecornu adopts Ali Rabeh's warning about speeches that arm attackers but accuses the left of exploiting the Trappes attack". First published: 2026-11-13. Last updated: 2026-11-13. https://disputeindex.com/events/8858-answering-questions-in-the-national-assembly-four-days