BRIGITTE MACRON. Emmanuel Macron, the outgoing president, continued his campaign after qualifying for the second round of the election. To convince the French to trust him, he was able to count on his wife Brigitte Macron, whose popularity is considered useful to LREM.
Presidential results near you
This April 24, the French will decide if Emmanuel Macron will remain in office, or if he will give way to Marine Le Pen. Given the winner by all the polls, he campaigned to convince the French to trust him by allowing him to continue on a second five-year term at the end of this second round. He should go and vote on April 24… And most certainly alongside his wife, Brigitte Macron, who accompanied her to vote in the first round, April 10 at midday, in their polling station. du Touquet, but also behind the scenes of the debate between the two rounds against Marine Le Pen, on April 20. This presence and this support of the First Lady have been a constant during this very special campaign. If it has a primarily symbolic role, it can be beneficial to the image that the French have of the LREM candidate. She has recently embarked on a number of initiatives and has met with political figures, not to mention all the times she has accompanied the President on his travels.
Brigitte Macron’s proximity to political figures
Beyond the diplomatic role and the social actions of the First Lady, there are her links with important figures in the political landscape of LREM. We remember in particular her presence at the funeral of Jean-Pierre-Pernaut, whose family was close to hers: near the Sainte-Clotilde basilica in Paris, she appeared to be an accomplice with the right-wing ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy . Le Parisien had also reported their lively discussion: “What a pleasure to see you!”, would have launched Nicolas Sarkozy, to which Brigitte Macron would have replied “Hello Mr. President”. She has also often been seen alongside Jean-Michel Blanquer, Minister of National Education, Youth and Sports since May 17, 2017. According to Gala, it was even she who whispered her name to the chief of State. We also think of his closeness to Marlène Schiappa, Minister Delegate for Citizenship, formerly Secretary of State for Equality between Women and Men: the latter told the JDD in October 2017: “I am very close to Brigitte, we often call each other. She supports me a lot. She asks me for advice”. Finally, she often praises the work of Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs since July 26, 2020. In an interview with L’Obs magazine in April 2021, she assured him of her sympathy by launching: “Qu would we do without Clement! The First Lady is thus on good terms with the close guard of her husband, the president-candidate Emmanuel Macron.
Emmanuel Macron’s only meeting in Nanterre: light on the First Lady
While the presidential couple had until then been relatively discreet, the one and only meeting of the president-candidate which took place at the Defense Arena in Nanterre on Saturday April 2 reversed the trend. In front of 30,000 supporters gathered one week before the first round of the election, he returned to this five-year term which reinforced their history, launching: “I want to tell my family, our children, our grandchildren my gratitude and my affection. I want to salute the evidence, the presence of the one who brings me the most in this singular life adventure: Brigitte”. She sent him a kiss from a distance, causing the room to stir. Then she got a standing ovation. The applause from LREM supporters thus sounded like recognition of his discreet but symbolic role in this very special campaign.
The diplomatic face of Brigitte Macron
In the midst of the Ukrainian war, Brigitte Macron wanted to get involved with the children who were victims of the Russian bombings. Thus complementing the action of her husband, who took part in numerous talks, emergency meetings and European summits to manage the diplomatic aspect of the crisis, she acted symbolically. She notably released an envelope of one million euros to the Red Cross through the Hospital Foundation, which she has chaired since June 2019, having taken over from Bernadette Chirac. She then attended the “concert for Ukraine” on March 8 and the program “La France face à la guerre” on TF1 on March 14… Before welcoming, on March 21, sick Ukrainian children in Orly airport alongside the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, and the Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, as part of the “convoys of life” operation for the evacuation of young patients Ukrainians to European countries that take care of them. But the most striking diplomatic exchange is surely the one she had with her Ukrainian counterpart, Olona Zelenksa. She sent him a letter of support, to which the latter replied with thanks on her Instagram account in mid-March, before ensuring, in an interview with the newspaper The Parisian on March 21, that his relations with Ms. Macron were “not just warm, but friendly”. What comfort in its position the First lady who masters the diplomatic codes.
Brigitte Macron’s social initiatives
Without her actions being directly linked to the presidential campaign, the First Lady contributes to enhancing the image of the presidential couple by working for social causes or for the poorest. Known for her correspondence with many French people, she follows her agenda to the letter, committing to the inclusion of people with disabilities, child protection and the fight against school bullying. This is how she led the new campaign of the 33th edition of the Yellow Pieces from January 12 to February 5, and that she traveled several times to hospitals with sick children. In addition, she has been teaching in the schools of the Institute of Vocations for Employment (LIVE) in Clichy-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis) since September 2018 and Valence (Drôme) since March 2021, a support and refresher project for young adults over 25 years old. Another action, and not the least, is the fight she leads against school bullying and cyberbullying, in the wake of the measures announced and the bill tabled by her husband last November.
The entry into the campaign of Emmanuel and … Brigitte Macron
It took until fifteen days before this first round for Brigitte Macron to appear in one of her candidate husband’s campaign clips. On Friday January 25, she spent a few moments on the screen of the 4th episode of campaign images that Emmanuel Macron prepares with the “Avec vous” teams every Friday evening so that his supporters can discover behind the scenes of his meetings and his travels. She was present in the front row of the meeting of the candidate LREM at La Défense Arena on April 2, which brought together nearly 40,000 people. For the First Lady who ends her “quinquennium” with higher popularity than her husband, with 55% of French people polled by Ifop (survey published on March 2) who declared themselves satisfied with her against 39% for their Head of State, but above all 1/3 of those polled who consider that she is an “asset” for the re-election of her husband, the importance of the role and positivity of Brigitte Macron’s influence in this campaign are no longer in doubt. However, she appeared little on the screen during the last straight line in the race for the election.