Rachida Dati would have exchanged virulent messages with members of the government, including the Prime Minister, according to the newspaper Le Monde.
Known for her outspokenness and especially her punchlines towards other politicians, Rachida Dati would not reserve her outings for the media. Even in private, the Minister of Culture would not mince her words to express her thoughts, sometimes with virulence. And the members of the government would not be an exception to the shooting of the tenant of rue de Valois, at least that is what reports The world which mentions, in a long paper on power games in the corridors of the Elysée, virulent and crude SMS messages that Rachida Dati would have sent to one of her colleagues and to the head of government.
“You’re a big piece of shit.” It is with this message, sent to Bruno Le Maire according to the newspaper, that Rachida Dati would have castigated the announcement of the Minister of the Economy made on February 22 on the objective of making “10 billion euros in immediate savings ” to avoid further widening France’s deficit. An exchange that the Minister of Culture denied, as the newspaper clarified in the evening.
If Rachida Dati denies having sent the rude message to Bruno Le Maire, she did not deny the other message mentioned in The world and which would have been addressed to Gabriel Attal. The content of the latter is however just as virulent since according to the newspaper, the minister would have said “I will transform your dog into a kebab” to the Prime Minister.
Neither the context nor the reason behind this message are specified, but the words attributed to the minister are surprising. Especially when we remember that Rachida Dati was one, with Prisca Thévenot and Marie Lebec, of the handful of ministers to be moved by a photo of the famous dog shown by Gabriel Attal during a session at the National Assembly. The photo of the exchange around the pet had already sparked controversy. Will the Prime Minister’s dog once again cause a political shock? For the moment, neither of the two ministers concerned has reacted to the comments of the World.
If these messages strengthen Rachida Dati’s reputation as a politician who speaks (very) freely, even in the face of the head of government – even if it means weakening the latter? -, they could also turn against her. The majority had already expressed certain reluctance about Rachida Dati’s entry into the government, due to the minister’s political affiliation with the Republican party and previous very critical remarks about the Macronist party. It is also with public opinion that the consequences, good or bad, of this sequence will have to be measured.