"He's wasting his time unnecessarily": François Bayrou's podcast on the budget leaves the political class doubtful

Some close to the government see it as creating a "direct channel of communication with the French people." Others, in the opposition, are more circumspect about the value of the podcast and the series of YouTube videos launched this Tuesday, August 5, by François Bayrou.

The Prime Minister intends to use this opportunity to justify his government's budgetary guidelines and its €44 billion savings plan for the 2026 budget. "This is such a crucial moment that I feel the need to speak directly with the French people. So that each of them can personally form an opinion," François Bayrou explained to Le Parisien .

"The objective is clear: to recall the context in which we find ourselves and explain the solutions envisaged," an executive advisor told BFMTV. "The Prime Minister wants to take the time to talk with the French people, far from the caricatures and posturing of the opposition." With one slogan: "Education, education, education!"

A Modem MP also believes in the value of this exercise, which will allow Internet users to ask questions starting next week. The head of government thus wants to "demonstrate his willingness to speak directly to the French people to explain his choices and his approach," he explains.

In the opposition, however, this transformation of the Prime Minister into a podcaster and YouTuber is not convincing. "He's wasting his time unnecessarily," a left-wing parliamentarian told BFMTV.

"The French aren't stupid. He can explain anything he wants to them, he's about to pick their pockets, they know it."

Antoine Léaument, a La France Insoumise MP for Essonne, concedes that "it's always a good thing when elected officials try to convince rather than coerce." "But Bayrou still tries to coerce in the end," he adds. "You don't force someone to swallow sulfuric acid just because you packaged them better than the first time you offered it!"

"I don't think this is likely to change the minds of the French, who legitimately see this budget as a collection of socially unacceptable measures," a Socialist MP agrees. "As for the format, that of the podcast and the YouTube videos, he's not enthusiastic either. "It's more outdated than modern at this stage," he lashes out.

An outdated character summed up by an opposition MP in a phrase: François Bayrou "sees himself as Mendès France, he'll end up like Barnier." A reference to the famous weekly radio chats that Pierre Mendès France held when he was Prime Minister. A format itself inspired by Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "fireside chats."

"This first week of August, many of you are on vacation. You will not mind if I interrupt this period of relaxation for a few moments to talk to you about serious problems that concern us all," declared "PMF" in its talk broadcast on August 7, 1954.

He called for an "effort of solidarity" and an "increase in productivity." "The problem (of France) is the backwardness of its economic organization, which is as if paralyzed and resistant to the most essential developments," Mendès France continued to regret.