French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin continues to insist on his controversial opinion regarding the French star Karim Benzema, claiming that "he has links to the Muslim Brotherhood." Darmanin argued that the French player's posts on social media indicated he was "hiding something." The right-wing minister, who has presidential aspirations, made this accusation last week after Benzema expressed support for the people of Gaza against the violence from the Israeli side towards the Palestinian territory.
On Thursday, Benzema's lawyer condemned the "absurd" accusations made by the French Interior Minister, which suggested that the former Real Madrid star had "notorious" connections with the Muslim Brotherhood. Darmanin noted that the former Spanish Real Madrid star and current Saudi league player has an "extraordinary social responsibility," referring to his fame on social media.
During a visit to Abu Dhabi, Darmanin stated before an audience of French community leaders: "You might wonder why the Interior Minister reacts to a tweet from a football player, but when it concerns 20 million people, I think it is my duty to condemn that." He added: "Because you can ask what a football player does when he tweets a political opinion, and when he does so, he does it selectively. I personally believe that it hides something, and not seeing it is naive." This statement followed Benzema's post on X (formerly Twitter), where he said: "All our prayers for the people of Gaza who are once again falling victims to this unjust bombardment that spares neither women nor children."
