Le Pecque, France — The question of the French president about a teenage romance with a high school teacher was so close to the bone that it was so eye-opening in a country where politicians dominate most of their private lives that the interviewer was completely buzzed. I couldn’t. Courage to ask it.
So he had Emmanuel Macron pose it to himself.
“He’s the president,” said the French leader, reading questions from a piece of paper handed to him by an interviewer.
“He should set an example and should not marry a teacher.”
Oh.
A group of interviewers on the autism spectrum, described in publications as “atypical journalists,” asked France’s 45-year-old president in a television interview this weekend, frankly but without an impartial filter: I had him talk about himself with extraordinary and enlightening candor. The question a professional journalist dares to ask the French leader.
Interviewers with Le Papotin, a magazine founded in 1990 at a daycare center for autistic youth near Paris, described Bridget, her friends (who said she didn’t have many), and her marriage to Russian President Vladimir. glared at Macron playfully about Putin and other matters of his mind and thoughts.
Along the way, they’ve winked out some very intimate details, providing a platform to show a more personal side during the crucial period of his second term as President Macron. is embarking on a risky effort to delay France’s retirement age, which threatens to infuriate critics and take protesters to the streets.
Le Papotin’s interviewers have questioned many celebrities over the years, including ex-Presidents Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and actor Vincent Cassel (Ocean’s Twelve, Black Swan). President Macron’s interview with him was filmed in Paris in November and broadcast on France Television. The only rule was:
Macron even responded gamely to an inquiry about his romance with Brigitte, who is 24 years his senior. She was Brigitte Augier, a married mother of three children when they met in high school where he was a student and she was a teacher. She later moved to the French capital, joined Macron, and divorced.
“It’s not about setting an example or not, right? When you’re in love, the choice isn’t yours,” Macron said in his defense.
“She was not my teacher. Cunning!” he said. I was seated beside him by one of the interviewers.
On another sensitive question — “Do you have plenty of dough?” — the former banker said his income as president had fallen, without divulging numbers.
About friendship he says:
And about the war in Ukraine between Putin and the Russian president, whom he met, the French leader said: That’s the paradox. “
At the end of the 30-minute Q&A session, President Macron thanked the interviewers for a job well done.
“Your question led me to why I had never been in an interview with another journalist,” he said.
