Guest on the set of BFMTV, Tuesday December 17the environmentalist deputy Benjamin Lucas drew a striking parallel between François Bayrou, new Prime Minister, and Joe Biden, evoking awkward beginnings and hesitations marked during his first appearance in the National Assembly.
The first interventions of François Bayrou, as Prime Minister, did not escape the vigilance of the oppositions. Tuesday, December 17, at the National Assembly, he answered alone for more than an hour to “questions to the government”, in a context marked by criticism of his recent decisions, in particular his choice to go to Pau while the crisis in Mayotte is intensifying. For Benjamin Lucas, environmentalist and social deputy for Yvelines, this performance was synonymous with disillusionment.
Guest on BFMTV, the New Popular Front parliamentarian did not mince his words. Describing a Prime Minister”hesitant” et “sans message clair”he denounced an attitude that he considers disconcerting. “Not knowing whether to go fast or slow“, he quipped, referring to François Bayrou’s unique speech rate, before concluding: “He ended up having nothing to say.“The culmination of this criticism is a surprising comparison, a daring comparison against the backdrop of criticized first steps. The MP concluded by saying: “He reminds me of Joe Biden.“
To justify this analogy, Benjamin Lucas recalled the last political hours of the American president, forced to withdraw from the race for the White House in 2024 after a series of errors and a posture considered uncertain. Like Joe Biden, François Bayrou would give the impression of not “really know where he is”.
A defensive posture in the face of criticism
The attacks did not fail to amplify after François Bayrou clumsily defended his absence in Mayotte. Justifying his choice by the need not to leave the ” national territory ” at the same time as Emmanuel Macron, he then omitted that Mayotte is a French department, a misstep which ulcerated part of the hemicycle. Benjamin Lucas underlined this episode by recalling that the Prime Minister had “told his life” in session, multiplying personal justifications without really meeting the expectations of the national representation.
This defensive tone, added to a transition context where François Bayrou is still alone at the head of a government not yet formed, has reinforced criticism of his difficulty in fully embodying his role.
