Europeans 2024: Macron and Attal everywhere, Hayer nowhere
“I’m sorry, I’m barging in”, said Gabriel Attal during his surprise arrival on the set of France Info Monday June 3, in the middle of an interview with his party’s candidate for the European elections, Valérie Hayer. Several minutes of a monologue from the Prime Minister followed, deducted from the MEP’s speaking time.
With this sequence, Gabriel Attal “provoked outrage” And “been accused of sexism for having ‘manterrupting’ (a contraction of the words man And interrupting)” the television appearance of his colleague, indicates the British daily The Telegraph.
“These attacks were echoed by political figures from all sides, for whom the unexpected intervention of Mr. Attal did Mr. Attal no favors.me Hayer: this one gives the impression of being relegated to the sidelines and superfluous”, can we read on the website of the BBC.
“Women are not doormats”, was offended by the environmentalist candidate Marie Toussaint, when that of France Insoumise, Manon Aubry, saw it as the very definition of “mansplaining (the fact that a man repeats the words of his interlocutor and explains to her what she thinks)”. Even the Republican candidate, François-Xavier Bellamy, denounced “a bit of a macho side”.
The person concerned defended himself by declaring that he had simply wanted “encourage” the candidate, who for her part said “proud” to have him by his side.
“So, Gabriel Attal, cad or victim of the French spirit?” wonders The weather.
A timely sequence
The Swiss daily observes that, “recently, to boost the list of the Macronist camp, which is doing very poorly in the polls, the President of the Republic and his Prime Minister are indeed constantly putting themselves forward.” And a few days before the election, the two heads of the executive are increasing their interventions, even if it means relegating Valérie Hayer to the background.
Emmanuel Macron, after offering to debate with Marine Le Pen, finally opted for an interview on the TF1 and France 2 channels on Thursday June 6, as part of the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the landing. An event which constitutes “a timely sequence, on the big international stage, just before the European elections on Sunday” and that “will allow the tenant of the Élysée to enhance his stature alongside 25 heads of state and government”, notes the Belgian newspaper The evening.
What his adversaries did not fail to denounce. “Opposition leaders consider that the landing events and the president’s television appearances will give the Macron camp an unfair advantage in the home stretch of the campaign,” reports The Local. Arcom finally announced on Tuesday June 4 that the speaking time devoted to the European campaign by the president would be deducted.
Score points
Whatever the case, with this speech in a very solemn moment, the Head of State “hopes to still be able to convince thousands of dissatisfied and moderate citizens to vote for his side – or at least to vote against the far right”, continues The Local.
The British Conservative Magazine The Spectator also reminds that Emmanuel Macron “has already used the Second World War to score political points: in April 2017, he visited Oradour-sur-Glane, in central France, where the SS had massacred the 643 inhabitants on the 10 June 1944. This pilgrimage took place just before voters went to the polls to decide whether he or Marine Le Pen would take charge of the country.”
But as for whether the strategy will pay off for the president, The evening ensures that“a few days before the election, his camp still wants to believe that it can turn things around. But polls, one after the other, predict a large victory for the extreme right and a severe sanction against the president who has been in office for seven years.
