There was a time when Alain Minc would sing the praises of French President Emmanuel Macron, comparing him to Napoleon’s generals: an extraordinary being blessed both with talent and luck.
Fast-forward eight years and Minc, Macron’s former mentor and an influential political adviser, now says he’s the “worst” president since France’s Fifth Republic was founded in 1958. Minc says the president’s narcissism has driven him to make reckless decisions that “imperiled French institutions” and boosted the far right ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
“Macron is leaving the country in a much worse state that when he took the reins of power,” Minc said in an interview with POLITICO. “He will leave a political landscape that is perhaps permanently unstable in France. It’s unforgivable.”
Minc, an influential businessman who has advised multiple French presidents dating back to François Mitterrand in the 1980s, was one of Macron’s earliest backers. The 76-year-old advised Macron, whose office declined to comment for this story, before his 2017 victory and during his first term, which Minc said wasn’t too bad.
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