Françoise Degois, a former adviser to Ségolène Royal and a familiar voice on French political talk shows, has turned her private Telegram exchanges with President Emmanuel Macron into a book. Titled Vous êtes tous trop durs avec moi (You are all too hard on me), it hits bookstores on Thursday, with excerpts already published in Le Figaro and Marianne.
The book follows in the tradition of Un président ne devrait pas dire ça…, which captured François Hollande's unguarded moments. But unlike Hollande, Macron reportedly learned only days before publication that his musings would be made public.
The conversation began in the summer of 2024, when Macron reached out to Degois to thank her for defending Brigitte Macron on X against conspiracy theories. “I thank you and my wife does too. Beyond political differences, what matters are your words,” he wrote, signing with “EM”. Degois seized the opportunity, and the exchanges continued.
Macron's candid views on coalition and rivals
The book confirms that Macron never intended to let the New Popular Front, which won the 2024 legislative elections, form a government. Referring to Lucie Castets, the left's candidate for prime minister, he wrote: “Only she and all of you believe she could one day make it to Matignon.”
Macron insists the dissolution was not reckless. “This dissolution, which cost me so much in every respect, still managed to block the RN there. I am sure of it. It was ready for the autumn but not for June,” he wrote, referring to the far-right National Rally.
His assessments of other politicians are equally blunt. Gabriel Attal? “We gave him far too much. All the time. Far too much.” On Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France insoumise: “LFI's strategy is crazy but I do not believe in it.” He praised Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure, calling him “a good guy, a really good one”, and encouraged him to challenge Mélenchon: “Let him go for it, Olivier. The others are losers. If you take them one by one! … He can take on Méluche. I took him on, it is no picnic but you get there.”
Macron also vented about the press, complaining that journalists are “all too hard on me” and that they write “hatchet-job articles” without ever meeting him. “It is not three pieces that make the difference,” he insisted.
Reflections on his legacy and future
With the two-term limit barring him from running again, Macron took stock in June 2026: “We have moved in eight years. We have done a lot against separatism, for purchasing power.”
On his post-Élysée plans, he dismissed a report from the far-right-leaning Le JDD that he might work for billionaire Xavier Niel as “utter, absolute nonsense”.
The revelations come at a tense time for France, with Macron convening a security council as the country braces for further unrest. His authority has been questioned after weekend riots, and the book adds another layer to the scrutiny of his presidency.
Degois's book offers a rare, unfiltered look at how Macron navigates the political landscape, his calculations, and his frustrations. Whether it will shift public perception remains to be seen, but it certainly provides material for both supporters and critics as France heads toward the next presidential election.
