Freelance riot control: Alexandre Benalla, right, in action on May Day. He stands accused of assault and impersonating a police officer, apparently for the heck of it
An agent of presidential security, writes Dalrymple,
is not supposed to comport himself like the bouncer of a provincial nightclub.
Dalrymple asks whether this is the moment
to bring Emmanuel Macron back down to earth, with the president increasingly criticised for his monarchical manner and basking in the reflected glory of the French victory in the World Cup.
The affair, Dalrymple says,
has not yet run its course, and though it will fizzle out, it is another nail in the coffin of Macron’s popularity. Impunity in high places can only promote disorder below.
He adds:
Any politician who lives by cleanliness dies by dirt.
