Hollande’s son hits at his dad’s partner

PARIS

French President Hollande, flanked by his companion Trierweiler, joins a march during a ceremony in tribute to the memory of Nazi victims in Tulle in this file photo. Hürriyet photo

French President François Hollande’s son has accused Hollande’s partner, Valerie Trierweiler, of
destroying his father’s “Mr. Normal” image.

Thomas Hollande, a 27-year-old lawyer, criticized the way Trierweiler has conducted herself since becoming first lady in May, British daily Telegraph has reported. Trierweiler’s support message to a politician standing against Segolene Royal, the former partner of Hollande and the mother of their children, in legislative elections last month caused outrage.

The tweet of support to Olivier Falorni, a politician in western France, was signed by Valerie Trierweiler and went viral on the Internet. The tweet starts: “Have courage, Olivier Falorni.” Trierweiler told Agence France-Presse on July 6 that her Twitter account was “apparently hacked”, after a second tweet suggested she had asked Le Monde newspaper not to publish pictures of her at a photo session with Hollande in the Elysee garden. In the end, Royal was not able to win that race. In comments to France’s Le Point magazine, Thomas Hollande said his father had been “devastated” by the tweet and that it had “caused him a lot of pain.” “I felt really sorry for my father. He really hates it when people talk about his private life. It destroys the normal image he has built,” he said.

‘I knew that’

François Hollande sold himself as “Mr. Normal” against former President Nicolas Sarkozy. Claiming that he was “flabbergasted” by the Tweet sent by Trierweiler, Thomas Hollande said: “I knew that something could come from her one day, but not this huge, it’s surreal.”

Hollande said that neither he nor his brothers or sister wanted to see Trierweiler again. “It makes sense, right? What’s important is that we normalize relations with our father.” He also said his mother had not abandoned her political ambitions, suggesting she could take up a government post. “A minister? Why not, in a few months? In politics, one is never dead.”