For many allies and former supporters, Emmanuel Macron’s extraordinary self-belief is now turning into a denial of reality that’s making him blind to the antipathy he generates, Report informs referring to Politico.
The decision to go back to the polls is “the delirious act of a man who is knocked out by defeat,” said one former Elysée staffer.
The tensions within the coalition backing Macron are such that heavyweights are calling on the French president to take a step back. François Bayrou, a key ally and one of Macron’s earliest supporters, was at the Élysée Palace on Monday evening to send the message that Macron “mustn’t get too involved in the campaign,” according to a centrist lawmaker. Bayrou has even discussed a necessary “de-Macronization” with his MPs, according to the lawmaker, who, like others quoted here, was granted anonymity to speak candidly.
“The more he talks, the more we lose points [in the polls],” said an adviser to an MP from Macron’s Renaissance party.
This is an unprecedented change in party dynamics for Renaissance. The French president’s party, which emerged with him, has long been dismissed as a mere echo chamber for Macron, which would not exist without him.