Nicolas Sarkozy is angry with François Bayrou for not having called for a vote for him in the second round of the 2012 presidential election. The former President of the Republic believes that it is because of him that he did not achieve a second term.
The former President of the Republic and the new Prime Minister do not like each other. “François Bayrou has always betrayed those he chose. Emmanuel Macron will, in turn, have the bitter experience of this before the end of his five-year term,” wrote Nicolas Sarkozy in his book, Le Temps des Tempés (Editions de l’Observatoire), published in July 2020.
“The difference between left and right, a structuring element of the political debate”
But the animosity between the two men goes back much further. One thing is certain: Nicolas Sarkozy and François Bayrou know each other well… very well in fact. As early as 1999, they clashed on Alain Duhamel’s set during the European election campaign. Nicolas Sarkozy and François Bayrou led two different lists and attacked each other over the division between the right and the center.
“By dint of mixing everything, putting a little left and a little right, ended up causing disinterest,” declared the future head of state. “The difference between the left and the right is a structuring element of the political debate and each time we forget it there is 50% abstention in the elections and 15% for Jean-Marie Le Pen. When people consider, like you, that when you are on the right you make a left-wing speech, we should not be surprised that right-wing voters stay at home,” he added.
2007, François Bayrou refuses to call for votes for Nicolas Sarkozy
A few years later, in 2007, the centrist and the right-winger faced each other in the race for the Élysée. François Bayrou’s objective is clear: to distance himself as much as possible from Nicolas Sarkozy. The future mayor of Pau managed to place himself in third position and therefore influence the second round between Ségolène Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy. However, he refused to give voting instructions but declared not to vote for Nicolas Sarkozy because he would risk “aggravating the tears in the social fabric”.
The betrayal of 2012
It was in 2012 that tensions were unleashed. The president of MoDem allows himself to describe the president still in office as “bling-bling”. A scenario similar to 2007 is happening again. François Bayrou finished in fifth place with 9.13% of the votes in the first round. Unlike the previous election, he called for voting for François Hollande.
Since then, Nicolas Sarkozy has affirmed that support from the mayor of Pau would have enabled him to achieve a second term. This event led the right-wing politician to describe François Bayrou as a “traitor”. “To despair of François Bayrou, I would still have to have one day placed hope in him…”, Nicolas Sarkozy said in 2015.
