“If Emmanuel Macron has learned anything, it is to use the economic situation to justify his public policies”

Tribune. On December 15, on TF1 and LCI, Emmanuel Macron said he had ” learned “ of its “Errors”, and “Acquired much more respect for everyone”. If the strategy to reconnect with the French seemed particularly explicit during this interview, it is not new to him.

During the speech of March 16, 2020 announcing the first confinement and the “suspension” of the ongoing reforms, Emmanuel Macron ended his speech with these words: “We will win, but this period has taught us a lot. Many certainties and convictions are swept aside. (…) We will have learned and I will also know with you how to draw all the consequences. “

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On March 13, 2020, the first speech on Covid-19 had already drawn heavily from the lexicon of learning (“What this pandemic is already revealing”, ” we are learning “, “Draw the consequences”). The political valorization of learning in times of crisis is not the prerogative of the center; in the history of the presidency under the V^e Republic, we can even say that it is a common place for re-election campaigns.

The example of Nicolas Sarkozy

The last president to have represented himself for a second term was Nicolas Sarkozy, in 2012. However, it is striking to note that Nicolas Sarkozy had also put forward the “crisis” as a source of introspection. Campaign posters in 2012 featured a candidate calmed down, mellowed and marked by events – gray temples, and more pronounced wrinkles than in the previous campaign.

The images would match the words: ” I have learned “, “I learned the lessons of successes and failures”, he said at a meeting in Villepinte. He went on to say that he realized that the presidential function required“To assume the tragic dimension of history” : “I did my best to protect the French from all these crises. “

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The center and the right do not have the monopoly of this lexical field: on the left, Mitterrand, in 1988, referred to the crisis in the suburbs to present himself as above the upheavals of the moment, having gained in height in circumstances : “Many politicians have a great experience of local life (…) But at the height of the State, some major problems hold back [davantage] the attention of those who govern. “ He concluded the speech at Le Bourget for his re-election: “We did it and we took the time, (…) but I learned. “

The weight of the crisis

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