Sarkozy’s unpresidential language under political fire – yet again
FRANCE: French President Nicolas Sarkozy was caught on camera calling a journalist a ‘‘dummy’’ during an official visit yesterday, in an outburst his Socialist election rival Francois Hollande condemned as vulgar and undignified.
Sarkozy has earned a reputation for blunt speaking during his five-year presidency. In the run-up to April’s first round presidential vote, he appears to have been at pains to shed that image. But during a visit to Chalons-sur-marne, east of Paris, he appeared to lose patience with a young journalist when questioned about clashes between police and striking steel workers in the capital on Thursday.
‘‘Do you think I give a damn about what you say? What do you expect me to say?’’ he says, adding: ‘‘What a dummy!‘‘
He then turned back smiling to the journalist and slapped him on the shoulder, apologising for the comment and saying: ‘‘He’s nice really. He’s young.’’
Socialist candidate Francois Hollande blasted Sarkozy in the wake of the incident accusing him of slipping back into the ‘‘excesses’’ and ‘‘vulgarity’’ that had marked his five-year term.
‘‘Do you think that’s the best way to conduct a dignified public debate?’’ he said on France 2 television.
Sarkozy has been dogged by a reputation for inflammatory language since he captured the headlines during his 2007 presidential campaign with a call to rid the Paris suburbs of young ‘‘scum’’.