Overview

• During his first appearance on France 2’s 20 Heures, Jean-Pierre Farandou said the government was “not deaf, not autistic” while defending the suspension of the pension reform announced earlier by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu.
• Farandou posted an apology on X, saying he was sincerely sorry for using the term and acknowledging that his words hurt people.
• Disability organisations including Collectif Handicaps and APF France-Handicap, along with lawmakers such as Marie-Charlotte Garin and Anaïs Belouassa Cherifi, condemned the phrasing as stigmatizing and “validist.”
• Le Journal du Dimanche reported that France 2 deleted an initial clip containing the remark and later reposted an edited excerpt, prompting accusations of trying to conceal the statement.
• Later AFP reporting highlighted experts who said such misuse of clinical terms feeds harmful stereotypes, with calls for better awareness and a national push on disability education.