Dominique Strauss-Kahn seized his first appearance in French parliament since his spectacular disgrace over a string of sex scandals on Wednesday to mock President François Hollande, reports The Daily Telegraph.
The former International Monetary Fund chief's apparent sideswipe at his fellow Socialist came amid a furious row over whether he should have been barred from entering the French Senate on "moral grounds".
Mr Hollande kicked off his presidential campaign last year with a hard-hitting speech in which he branded "the world of finance" his greatest "adversary".
Apparently alluding to that speech, Mr Strauss-Kahn, a former finance minister and one-time presidential favourite, told senators: "To blame finance for the economic disaster we're going through in Europe in general and in our country in particular, is roughly as relevant as blaming the car industry for the number of deaths on the road."
Although the two belonged to the same party, there was no love lost between the pair and Mr Strauss-Kahn was widely tipped to win party primaries against his less charismatic and experienced colleague before scandal struck.
DSK, as he is known, was answering questions in his capacity as economic expert from a commission of inquiry on the role of banks and financial players in tax evasion.
Read more of this report from The Daily Telegraph.