FAKE NEWS! The mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, claims to have voted for Mitterrand… when he was a minor!

Appearing on LCI opposite Darius Rochebin, Bally Bagayoko, the LFI mayor of Saint-Denis, stated that he voted for François Mitterrand, elected in 1981 and 1988. Indeed, when Darius Rochebin asked him if he had voted for Mitterrand, Bally Bagayoko replied: " Yes ! »

Problem: Bally Bagayoko was born on July 31, 1973. In May 1981, when François Mitterrand was first elected President of the Republic, he was only 7 years old. In May 1988, when the Socialist president was re-elected, he was 14 years old. Therefore, he was never able to vote for François Mitterrand in the presidential election.

The legal voting age makes his statements incoherent.

In France, the voting age is 18. Bally Bagayoko was therefore ineligible to participate in either of these presidential elections. His claim that he voted for François Mitterrand in 1981 and then in 1988 is simply impossible. On both occasions, he was a minor. He could neither be registered to vote nor cast a ballot in those presidential elections.

An error that embarrasses the mayor of Saint-Denis

This statement puts Bally Bagayoko in a delicate position. The elected official wanted to discuss his personal connection to the Mitterrand-era left, but his example was immediately turned against him. In politics, this kind of imprecision can quickly become a matter of credibility, especially when it concerns an electoral memory presented as personal.

Darius Rochebin's amateurishness

Bally Bagayoko isn't the only one to blame in this interview. Darius Rochebin couldn't have been unaware that his interviewee was a minor during both of François Mitterrand's elections. The journalist displayed astonishing amateurishness. A simple mistake or a lack of preparation? In any case, Bally Bagayoko and Darius Rochebin have one thing in common for this program: they both wear the dunce cap perfectly!