"Unacceptable", "petty calculations"...: anger in the presidential camp after Retailleau's remarks decreeing the end of Macronism

"I don't believe in the "at the same time" principle, a postulate of Emmanuel Macron, who claims to be both right and left, "because it fuels impotence," adds the president of LR, in this interview.

The minister, who is due to meet the President of the Republic at the Élysée Palace on Thursday, reiterated that his presence in the government coalition of the right and the centre "is not an endorsement of Macronism", but is motivated by "the general interest" and his refusal to allow "the Mélenchonised left to come to power". In the name of a "useful, but not docile, right", he explained that he is participating in François Bayrou's government not "to be a figurehead" but "to bring the full weight of (his) right-wing convictions to bear".

La France Insoumise is "the worst political threat" compared to the National Rally, believes the minister, who often leans towards the RN's sovereign proposals.

He therefore calls for "a cordon sanitaire" to be maintained in the municipal elections of March 2026 against Jean-Luc Mélenchon's movement and believes that the right must be "at the heart of the broadest possible shock battalion." "We cannot win alone," he asserts, without saying whether he wants to ally himself with the RN.

Emmanuel Macron had called François Bayrou and Bruno Retailleau to order in early July when the latter spoke out in favor of ending subsidies for renewable energy, provoking the anger of his colleague from Renaissance de la Transition écologique, Agnès Pannier-Runacher. Ministers "must take care of the policies they are pursuing," the head of state had asserted, calling on the Prime Minister to "discipline the words" of his government.

A recommendation that was not really heard on Tuesday evening, given the outcry it caused.

In response, Renaissance Education Minister Elisabeth Borne accused the head of Place Beauvau, on the X network, of "trying to divide the common core" and thus "weaken the barriers against the extremes." "Acting together requires mutual respect," added the former Prime Minister, asserting that Macronism was "an ideology AND a political party."

Agnès Pannier-Runacher also stepped up to defend "Macronism," "the choice of action in the face of populism, of unity in the face of division. This is what has kept the country together during crises," she insisted.

“Divide”, “petty political calculations”

The Renaissance party, on the same social network, deemed Mr. Retailleau's remarks "unacceptable," even though he is a minister in a "coalition government." This, in the eyes of the movement, gives him "a particularly heavy responsibility that tolerates neither provocations nor petty political calculations." "Time spent dividing and sparking these controversies is time wasted on acting in the service of the French people," insists the presidential movement.

"Macronism will not stop. Not today, not in two years, not after. […] No one will erase it. And it is up to us to carry it forward and reclaim it with Renaissance," now led by former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, also reacted Aurore Bergé, a loyal supporter of Emmanuel Macron, who is also Minister for Gender Equality.