“We are going to stop receiving politicians” in Quotidien, declares Yann Barthès

The presenter of the Quotidien show, who rarely responds to media interviews, gave an interview to the Sunday Tribune in which he declares “stop receiving politicians” on his set. If he warns that there will be exceptions such as the return of a “great figure in the public debate” or the release of a book, Yann Barthès explains that “Politicians have become inaudible and are rolling out their talking points on all platforms”.

“I have in mind the interview I did this season with Manon Aubry. She started a sentence and I was able to finish it because I had heard her for a week. We prefer to decipher them without them!”he justified, adding nevertheless that if he could, he would receive Donald Trump. “It’s obviously impossible, but it would be so great. Imagine: the curtain opens, and there comes Donald Trump. […] I would have a billion questions to ask him.”.

The presenter of Quotidien, last year’s main competitor of the show Touche pas à mon poste, also spoke out about Arcom’s decision to suspend C8. “I will never be happy about the closure of a channel. A channel is not just one presenter, but hundreds of people.”he said. “It hurts my heart”he assured.

Concerning, however, the Cyril Hanouna show, targeted by Arcom, Yann Barthès mentioned “threats and insults” which fall under the “harassment and violence”. “I simply want to say that some of the comments that were made and that were aimed at us – whether physical threats or insults – are less about freedom of speech than about harassment and violence.”he said without saying anything more.

Left-wing daily?

Also returning to his appearance before the parliamentary commission of inquiry into DTT frequencies last spring, the presenter said he had “the feeling of being treated like a reckless driver, even though I respect all red lights”. Accused of«arrogance» by the chairman of the commission, Renaissance MP Quentin Bataillon, Yann Barthès returned the compliment. “Personally, I found him arrogant.”.

The host also swore that his show was not militant. “Does being anti-racist mean being an activist?”he asked in response to the question posed by our colleagues. “This little music according to which Quotidien “would be left-wing is fueled by media and politicians who want to create blocs built in opposition to each other. We are not against anyone.”he said, assuring that in his writing, “There are people on the left and on the right” and that “No one can say who I voted for in the last election”.

Quotidien broke audience records last year, bringing together an average of 2 million viewers and a 10% audience share in the last part of the show. “We are looking for calm and peace. We are not in hysteria.”reported the presenter to explain this success. “The show is also very prepared. Everything is written and rehearsed.”.

The host also explained that the «stars» had, however, less audience. “Today, celebrities are reserved and careful about everything they say. They are very afraid of bad buzz.”This change is very noticeable among Americans, he added. “Before, they came to do the show on French TV shows. Their game was to say ‘fuck, fuck, fuck’, because they don’t have the right to do it at home! But with social networks, today, this type of excerpt is taken up worldwide so they censor themselves.”.