Elisabeth Borne reprimands her Minister of Higher Education, who declared that the notion of "Islamo-leftism" did not exist

"This movement exists in society, and therefore necessarily at university," the Minister of National Education declared on Radio J on Sunday, pointing in particular to La France Insoumise.

He had considered that "Islamo-leftism" was a term that "does not exist as an academic term" , and therefore that this notion "did not exist " . This statement earned Philippe Baptiste, Minister responsible for Higher Education, a public reprimand from his supervisory minister, Elisabeth Borne. "This current exists in society, therefore necessarily at the university" , declared the Minister of National Education, Higher Education and Research, Sunday July 13, in an interview with Radio J.

Elisabeth Borne then gave her definition of the term, believing that it could describe "far-left people who consider Muslims to be an electoral force, who court them by encouraging communitarianism and trivializing radical Islamism." The former Prime Minister then shifted her explanations to a more political level. "There are both personalities and political parties, I am thinking in particular of LFI [La France insoumise] , who carry a far-left ideology that instrumentalizes Islam, trivializes radical Islamism, and encourages communitarianism."

The Minister of Education then accused LFI of wanting to bring "these ideologies into the university" : "They don't hide it [since some of them] go around all the universities in France, so I think their fight is quite clear." These comments are a direct response to the statements made by Minister Philippe Baptiste on Monday on LCP . "To think that there is an Islamo-leftist movement that would be there, wanting to take power within this or that university, no, I don't believe that is the reality," he declared, while referring to "abuses."

This position had provoked strong reactions from the right. "Denying the presence of Islamo-leftism in universities is playing the game of entryism at a time when we must be uncompromising in the face of this scourge," declared the secretary general of LR, Othman Nasrou. "Saying that Islamo-leftism does not exist is a bit like saying that the Earth is not round," estimated the former Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer.

Philippe Baptiste's position contrasts with that of his predecessors. In 2021, Higher Education Minister Frédérique Vidal sought to call for an investigation into "Islamo-leftism" at universities, sparking controversy.