Emmanuel Macron’s wife, on the TF1 8 p.m. set, sketched the portrait of a man listening to the French when talking about her husband, while the pension reform is now on track.
The first lady has always taken care, since 2017, not to play a political role or to intervene directly in public debate. Still, his popularity and his unique position with the Head of State give him some advantages that all experts in political communication in the service of the Elyuseum would try to exploit. Especially when the Head of State engages in reforms that are confronted with a real outcry in public opinion. This Monday, January 10, Brigitte Macron undoubtedly made some of the president’s advisers smile: questioned as president of the Hospital Foundation on the 8 p.m. set of TF1, she was questioned, quite naturally, about the social upheaval that is rising in health establishments. “Caregivers suffer because they are afraid of not doing their job because they have so much to do. […] They also tell me that they are understaffed, this hospital they love it, and if they are afraid, it is for their hospital, they want to save it”, she estimated.
The discussion – more than the “interview” let’s agree – then led the first lady to comment on the pension reform, which should generate major shocks for the executive in the coming weeks. In a few sentences, Brigitte Macron implied, in essence, that common sense guided her husband and the government. A nice balancing act, which is only successful if it incorporates a dose of intimacy and sentimentality. “The French, in difficulty, have always reacted positively. What the youngest tell me is that in any case they will not have a pension. So what I want to say to young people is everything is done for you to have a retirement”, she said, even adding: “My husband is a deeply honest and deeply true man. […] I hear the criticisms, I understand them, I understand everything, but the only thing I don’t understand is wickedness, violence and lies, that, I don’t understand. […] Me, I am a ferryman, I pass the messages to him”.
The release of Brigitte Macron looks like a well-crafted communication stunt, whether it was anticipated or not. In the ranks of the opposition, it will cringe a few teeth. Asked about the subject, the deputy LFI Clémentine Autain also regretted this speech. “It’s not her role, she was not democratically elected. We can see that on the eve of a big meeting which is the terrible announcement of this reform by the government, she comes to pass sympathetically a message by taking advantage of its notoriety”, she considered on BFMTV Tuesday, January 10.