The book he has just dedicated to his bedside author, François Mauriac, was originally titled The Eternal Child. An appellation that the detractors of Bernard Cazeneuve are very few to attribute to him. At 60, the former Prime Minister, who inaugurated his movement, the Convention, on Sunday June 11 in Créteil, seems on the contrary to be the victim of an old age crime. In question: its sober and classic appearance, but also an audience of supporters mocked on social networks for their gray heads.
White man over 50, isn’t he an image of the “old world”, as Léa Salamé ingenuously asked him, Monday, June 12, on the airwaves of France Inter? An amused observer of French political life, journalist Christophe Ernault, founder and editor-in-chief of the offbeat magazine Schnock, intended for “old people aged 27 to 87”, analyzes for Le Point our relationship to the age of our leaders public.
Le Point: Is Bernard Cazeneuve the victim of an “old face” offence?
Christophe Ernault: Rather, he is the victim of a dirty-mouthed offence. He is almost the same age as Brad Pitt [59 years old, editor’s note]! At twenty, he was already old. It’s rather his face, his glasses, his baldness that bother. And what he represents: by staging himself with François Hollande, Jean-Christophe Cambadélis, he does not really embody modernity in politics. It seems that he does not realize the degree of mistrust they inspire. And then, he has just released an improbable book on Mauriac, an antediluvian author, the most outdated of outdated writers.
What advice would you give him?
He made it clear to us that he was stiff, that he loved to read Mauriac. Now I would urge him to play more on his humor, because he has a lot of it! There, it’s a bit rough…
Can’t this “retro” side become an asset in the eyes of the French? In the United States, the president, Joe Biden, is 80 years old…
Its harsh, somewhat old-fashioned side is a double-edged sword. Bernard Cazeneuve can play on his image as an incorruptible and upright Republican. Faced with an overexcited opponent, it can work. The coming to power of Emmanuel Macron has given some people the desire to put an end to the old world. She remained in the minds of many people, especially journalists. When General de Gaulle returned to power in 1958, he was already 67 years old. You can’t complain about having a clumsy, inexperienced political class, and complain when a man over 55 has ambitions…
At the time of the 2016 primary, Alain Juppé, 71, was the big favorite in the polls, before being beaten on the wire by François Fillon.
He was at the top of the polls, but did not go all the way. It doesn’t play much. Édouard Philippe also has this somewhat boring and stiff side, and the same sardonic humor as Bernard Cazeneuve… He is a bit old France: in his head, he is 75 years old!
At 71, Jean-Luc Mélenchon escapes this old age trial…
We will put him on trial if he wants to run again. Or rather, he will be criticized for trying his luck one last time. He more or less made it clear that he would stop there…
In 2017, he was already an old young man. I remember he had distilled references to Audiard, outdated expressions, he was watching Télématin… On the other hand, he is hypermodern with the praise of the “start-up nation”. He wants to knock out the institutions or achievements that are old world for him: pensions, the Labor Code… As he will not be able to run again in 2027, he will be one of the youngest retirees in France. It will be very interesting to watch. There has already been Valéry Giscard d’Estaing [who left power at 55, editor’s note] in this case. He will have a unique experience for a politician of his age.