Hollande is harmed by Trierweiler’s book. But not for tales of his infidelity
And why have his approval ratings, already catastrophic, dropped even further since the publication of the book?
Because embedded in this otherwise innocuous kiss-and-tell is a devastating revelation about Hollande: “He presented himself,” writes Trierweiler, “as the man who doesn’t like the rich. In reality, the president doesn’t like the poor”. More than any revelation about his philandering, this aspersion cast on his leftwing credentials could bring down the president.
.. In France, money and the desire to make it are perceived as dirtier than sex. That’s why no one blenched when Hollande said in 2006: “I don’t like the rich. I admit it.” Again, in a speech in 2012 that helped carry him into power: “I like people while others are fascinated by money.”
However, in private, according to his ex, the president mocks the poor and, echoing a 16th-century French proverb, a man without money is like a wolf without teeth, calls them “les sans dents“, the toothless.’