He must lengthen his pace to follow her. This January 14, in Athens, Valérie Pécresse climbs four by four the hill of the Muses, in front of the Parthenon, it is difficult to follow. Eric Ciotti, wearing a long black coat, does his best, he sneaks in, quickly, quickly, climbs to her level and doesn’t let her go. Always be next to the candidate in the photo.
Since the start of the campaign, the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes has been omnipresent, at least visually. In the aftermath of the Zenith meeting in Paris, which failed in form and was controversial in substance, several heavyweights of the party criticized the supposed influence of the finalist of the Les Républicains (LR) congress on the candidate, who used without quotation marks the expressions “great replacement” and “French of papers”borrowed from the extreme right.
Monday morning, during a meeting at HQ, yesterday’s enemy brothers, Xavier Bertrand and Jean-François Copé, encouraged Valérie Pécresse to free herself from influences and remain herself. The same evening on BFM TVthe mayor of Meaux reiterated his criticism, targeting more specifically Eric Ciotti and those for whom “porosity with Zemmour is no problem”. “This is not the line of the candidate”he insisted, recalling the need to address the greatest number, and no longer to simple LR members. “The project should not be that of Eric Ciotti but that of Valérie Pécresse”supports MP Julien Dive (Aisne), close to Xavier Bertrand, who regrets the use of words “great replacement”.
Pécresse “does not need anyone to be firm”
The interested party does not intend to play the scapegoats, the day after the failed meeting. He claims not to have read the speech before the Zenith, which the entourage of Pécresse confirms. And denies exercising the slightest ideological hold on “Valerie”« not influenced”. “The fact that I weigh on the line is fantasizedhe swears. She does not need anyone to be firm on the sovereign. »
The day after the meeting, the deputy skipped the meeting of the strategic committee at HQ, to boast on BFM-TV of the right-wing content of the speech from the Zenith. This line would be, according to him, the only one capable of opening the way to the second round. “What I think is shared by 35% of French people”, he said to Worldadding the voting intentions in favor of Marine Le Pen, Eric Zemmour and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan. “The country is on the right”he summarizes.
The one who suffered from being caricatured for a long time as a “gun holder” of the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, of whom he was the collaborator, took his new status, shrouded in light. The day after the primary, he peeled with satisfaction the popularity surveys in which he recorded flattering scores on the right. “Only a few points from Nicolas Sarkozy…”he repeated, as if he had trouble believing it himself.
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