PARIS, Feb 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, has been banned from meeting members of the French government after not showing up at the Foreign Affairs ministry earlier in the day, where he had been summoned over comments on the killing of a French far-right activist last week, diplomatic sources said on Monday.
“Following the publication by the U.S. Embassy of comments on a tragedy that occurred in France and concerns only our national public debate – which we refuse to allow to be exploited – ambassador Charles Kushner was summoned today to the ministry. He did not show up,” the source added.
French far-right activist Quentin Deranque was beaten to death in a fight with alleged hard-left activists, in an incident that shocked the nation and has been called “France’s Charlie Kirk moment”, referring to last year’s shooting of the U.S. conservative activist.
The U.S. Embassy in France and the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism said they were monitoring the case, warning on X that “violent radical leftism was on the rise” and should be treated as a public safety threat.
“Faced with this apparent misunderstanding of the basic expectations of an ambassador who has the honour of representing his country, the minister requested that he no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government,” the source added.
This was the second time Kushner did not show after being summoned. In August 2025, he had been asked to explain himself at the French Foreign Affairs ministry after having publicly raised his concern about the rise in anti-Semitic acts in France and criticising the French authorities for not doing enough against it.
(Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)
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