Just like Emmanuel Macron, who this summer raised the idea that his former Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe, could “take over” at the Élysée in 2027, Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, also believes the serious idea. “I think that Edouard Philippe is in the best position today, as I speak to you,” declared Gérald Darmanin to the media Brut who questioned him about his own presidential ambitions.
“I am very proud to be Minister of the Interior at 40”
“I don’t particularly dream of being President of the Republic. I am very proud to be Minister of the Interior at 40,” he explained while adding that “we can’t say never” . Gérald Darmanin had already estimated at the beginning of October that Edouard Philippe was best placed for the next presidential election, in which Emmanuel Macron will not be able to run after two consecutive mandates. But he also wondered about his “desire” and his “project”.
“I think we have to support the best placed because I believe that Madame Le Pen can win the presidential election. I think it is dangerous for our country, even if I respect Madame Le Pen,” he said. -he told the media Brut on Sunday.
“I hope that Edouard Philippe can wear this if he respects a certain number of things on which we can agree or not,” he added without further details.
Convergence on “anti-white racism”
For now, Gérald Darmanin rather agrees with the findings drawn up with the former tenant of Matignon. Asked about the comments made by Édouard Philippe in an interview published the same morning in the JDDand in which the former Prime Minister considered it “very possible” that there was a new “anti-White” racism in France, the Minister of the Interior responded that “you have to be blind not to see it “.
“Yes, there is racism, racism against blacks, against North Africans, there is racism against Jews, there is racism against whites, of course,” he added.
An ideological proximity that we also find in the interview with Edouard Philippe at JDD, in which he displays his total support for the text on immigration by Gérald Darmanin. “I want to express my complete support for the text which was proposed by Gérald Darmanin,” he chanted. “It’s a good text, firm, well thought out and well designed.” The former prime minister does not skimp on the praise. “It is exactly in line with what I believe and what I have defended since my time at Matignon,” he explains before adding: “Gérald Darmanin has taken the subject head on.”
Eyes fixed on Matignon
Public support which marks a change of strategy, or ambition, for Gérald Darmanin. While he assured in mid-August, during an interview with Figarolook at “what happens in 2027”, he already corrected the situation in October during an interview given to Parisian in which he underlined that being President of the Republic is “energy, intelligence, working power” and that he was “not certain of having them. You also have to want to be a candidate. is very hard. You must have the lucidity to know yourself perfectly.”
Supporting Edouard Philippe also means siding with the favorite. A survey commissioned by the JDD at Ifop at the beginning of October revealed that the former Prime Minister remained the Macronists’ favorite candidate, far ahead of Bruno Le Maire… or Gérald Darmanin. For the moment, the latter seems to be looking more towards Matignon. “What interests me most is to influence the political line of my country. It is to convince the President of the Republic,” he explains to Parisian. “All the texts that I presented, I managed to get them voted on without 49.3”, he argues, targeting Elisabeth Borne who, to get the social security budget voted on, activated article 49 -3 of the Constitution, synonymous with passage by force, no less than 19 times. If the immigration bill, presented this Monday in the Chamber, succeeds in being adopted, it will constitute for the Minister of the Interior the best demonstration of his ability to succeed in finding compromises with the opposition.
More than three years before the next presidential election, there are numerous contenders for the title at the Elysée, like Bruno Le Maire and Gabriel Attal, and speculation abounds. But until 2027, there is still a long way to go.