After initial hesitation—pundits were convinced Trierweiler's Twitter account must have been pirated—the tweet was making banner headlines on 24-hour news channels. The impact, as one hyperbolic TV reporter live from La Rochelle put it, was "like a bomb." A feisty tweeter, Trierweiler had said she wanted to remain a journalist, despite her new role. She still works for the glossy weekly Paris Match. But it had been assumed she would stay clear of the political arena.
Tweeters compared the new "psychodrama" to Feydeau, the Belle Epoque playwright famed for bedroom farce. Jokey tweets about the incident, notably from right wingers, included the hashtag #vaudeville. One tweeter, the pseudonymed lawyer with a cult following known as Maître Eolas, asked pertinently, "I am not understanding who is supporting Falorni: a Paris Match journalist, the first lady, or the girlfriend of Ségolène Royal's ex?" Another tweeter mused that lunch at stepmother's house might get awkward for Royal's children. And many were keen to tisk-tisk about Hollande's ostensibly short-lived pledge to be a "normal" president, his bid to deliberately contrast with Sarkozy's blingy starification of French politics.
Before and after an event Tuesday afternoon, Hollande rushed past reporters without commenting on the incident. Royal, too, declined to comment, saying her energy is focused instead on the electorate. The dissident Falorni, meanwhile, has made the rounds on TV, visibly beaming.
Normality is a lost art.
Normality is a lost art.
Without benefit of clergy Royal has had 4 children with the head of France. He has recently married a columnist for Paris Match. The threesome does not appear bound for austerity.
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