A Presidential Faux Pas

Recently, a well-known public official said this to someone refusing to shake their hand at a press event: “Fuck off then, stupid bastard.” Ordinarily, one would assume that this figure must be a tawdry celebrity, someone with a level of maturity and emotional restraint akin to that of Britney Spears. Yet it was not a pop icon, but rather Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, who uttered this statement on Feb. 24.

During a visit to the annual Paris agriculture fair at the end of February, Sarkozy glad-handed the crowd, thanking observers for coming—until he came upon one who refused to shake his hand. “Tu me salis,” or “You dirty me,” said the unidentified man, to which Sarkozy crudely retorted, “Casse-toi alors, pauvre con.”

In an effort to justify Sarkozy’s comments, Prime Minister Francois Fillon later claimed that it was “totally abnormal that someone would refuse to shake the hand of the President.” Perhaps Francois Fillon and I have different definitions of the word “abnormal,” but I find it more abnormal that the President of the French Republic would call one of his constituents a stupid bastard. This incident represents a pattern of behavior wholly unfitting to the French presidency—a pattern of behavior that is costing Sarkozy credibility at home and potentially abroad.

Fillon also excused Sarkozy’s behavior by saying that “he is a man” and praising the “transparency” of Sarkozy’s general sentiment. The fact that Sarkozy is indeed a man could potentially be a valid excuse if this manifestation of Sarkozy’s “manhood” were unique. But this is not an isolated incident—Sarkozy less than ten months in office have been rife with petty personal scandals that would be at home on the cover of People Magazine.

Nicolas Sarkozy, practically from the moment he was elected, has done more than any French leader ever to make a mockery of the French presidency. After spending much of his campaign encouraging the French people to work harder, one of the first things Sarkozy did as president was go on a luxury yacht trip funded by billionaire Vincent Bolloré. In October of last year, Sarkozy stormed out after five minutes of an expected 45-minute CNN interview when asked about his wife, whom he divorced shortly thereafter. And who can forget his whirlwind romance and subsequent marriage to model/singer Carla Bruni? For months, the French media has been inundated with glamour shots of the illustrious couple in Egypt, EuroDisney, and Italy—all places where Sarkozy, lacking any sense of discretion whatsoever, has sought to show off his prize wife with the ostentation of a child with a new toy. Other minor issues, such as the state of the economy, have been eclipsed by matters of clear importance, such as the new First Lady’s excellent fashion sense.

These scandals are clearly eroding Sarkozy’s credibility in the eyes of the French people. His approval ratings plummeted to below 50 percent for the first time since his election in May 2007. Sarkozy’s approval ratings have followed a definite downward trend since the series of large-scale strikes against his labor and education reforms in the fall of 2007. Various groups of public employees including teachers, civil servants, and public transport workers responded with anger to Sarkozy’s plan to slash France’s generous pensions. Perhaps their anger had something to do with the fact that Sarkozy, while espousing the values of hard work and love of labor, announced plans to increase his own presidential salary by 150 percent in October 2007. Thankfully, the contradictory and extravagant nature of Sarkozy’s personality has yet to take a major toll on France’s foreign relations. For now, the image Sarkozy projects to allies is that of a slightly deranged but internationally-harmless megalomaniac.

It is important to separate politics from personality in this equation. Although many of the French find Sarkozy’s politics reprehensible in the extreme, it is Sarkozy’s personality—not his policy—that has done France the most harm thus-far. As Americans, we know better than most the high price a country pays for the buffoonery of their leader. When a president consistently behaves in a manner that does not befit his office, he loses credibility, both internationally and domestically. Nicolas Sarkozy needs to realize that France does not need another civilian, nor another celebrity. France needs a president, and it is high time he started acting like one.

Marina S. Magloire ’11, a Crimson editorial editor, lives in Weld Hall.