Teddy Riner’s Presidential Bid, Digi Mart USA News: Once the news broke, observers rushed to hear what the 30-something judo champion had to say. He acknowledges that he is not part of the political establishment, but his speech reflects careful thought about the country’s problems, and his candidacy deserves to be taken seriously.
The timing is significant. November is when the presidential race truly begins.
Emmanuel Macron himself declared his candidacy on November 16, 2016, and he too had never been elected before, emerging from the wave of anti-establishment sentiment that Jean-Luc Mélenchon had theorized without benefiting from it. Yesterday, the occupant of the Élysée Palace himself pointed out the parallel between the judoka and himself, noting that he was not a professional politician either.
In substance, Teddy Riner’s speech resembles a kind of Chiracian syncretism. In his announcement, the champion opened with a tribute to Gérard Collomb, the former Macronist interior minister who had said he feared that in France people would find themselves not side by side but face to face.
He paid another tribute to Nicolas Sarkozy when he spoke of the France that gets up early, respects the rules and pays for everyone. His concern about debt echoes François Bayrou.
Defending those who do not have the right surname recalls the Mitterrand era of SOS Racisme. The sense of abandonment is a theme that also resonates with National Rally voters.
There is also a distinctly Macronist emphasis on effort and courage. The mix of political references recalls Jacques Chirac, behind whom David Douillet, the only other judoka to have engaged in politics so far, had backed his campaign.
The question remains: for whom is this candidacy good news? Only the first polls will show whether Teddy Riner can turn his enormous popularity into voting intentions.
On paper, his entry at least complicates the calculations of candidates already established in the race. He has stated clearly what he thinks of the National Rally, which has drawn racist attacks against him.
His profile could also appeal to voters in disadvantaged neighborhoods and to part of the youth that Jean-Luc Mélenchon seeks to mobilize. The centrist bloc cannot ignore this new candidacy either.
Édouard Philippe smiled yesterday while describing it as a “candidature de poids,” a play on the 140 kilograms that Teddy Riner weighs. But behind the wordplay lies a real political question: is this a Tapie-style candidacy?
In the 1994 European elections, the list led by the star entrepreneur Bernard Tapie, backed by François Mitterrand, put Michel Rocard in serious difficulty and helped block his path to the Élysée Palace. The comparison deserves examination, although nothing at this stage allows anyone to claim that a similar maneuver is underway.
Yesterday, Emmanuel Macron did not hesitate to express his pleasure that a great champion has decided to take part in the presidential debate. That enthusiasm was not lost on Édouard Philippe, for whom it is one more stone on the former prime minister’s tatami.
