U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner was barred this week from meeting with French officials after he failed to show up when he was summoned to explain recent comments made by President Donald Trump.
Kushner, father of Trump ‘s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, didn’t come to meet French officials when they asked him to explain the recent comments made by Trump. The State Department sent out an explanation, saying it was because of “violent radical leftism” being on the rise after the killing of a French activist.
The French activist, Quentin Deranque, 23, was considered far right and died because brain injuries after he was beaten when violence broke out at a meeting.
The State Department posted about Deranque’s death on social media platform X.
“Violent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in Quentin Deranque’s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety,” the Department of State Bureau of Counterterrorism wrote on X. “We will continue to monitor the situation and expect to see the perpetrators of violence brought to justice.”
That was the post that French officials wanted an explanation about. “We don’t accept that foreign countries can come and interfere, invite themselves, into the national political debate,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said, according to The Associated Press.
After Kushner did not come when summoned, Foreign Affairs Ministry banned him from meeting with French officials “in light of this apparent misunderstanding of the basic expectations of the mission of an ambassador, who has the honor of representing his country.”
“When these explanations have taken place, then the U.S. ambassador in France will naturally regain access to members of the French government,” Barrot said, according to NBC News.
The minister’s office said it had spoken with Kushner on the phone and he “took note, expressed his willingness not to interfere in our public debate, and recalled the friendship that binds France and the United States,” it said, according to NPR. They agreed to meet in coming days, the minister’s office said.
