Influential left-leaning businessman and media mogul Mathieu Pigasse, tapped by the United States to restructure Venezuela’s debt, is also mulling a primary run, according to a person close to him who, like others in this piece, was granted anonymity to candidly discuss the state of the race.
But Faure, who has led the Socialists for more than eight years, is the most likely to offer Glucksmann a run for his money.
One Socialist lawmaker said it’ll now be a close contest. Another one of the party’s MPs said Faure can sometimes appear immortal, “kind of like Highlander.”
Glucksmann is already facing attacks for his brand of centrist-leaning politics and an elitist image bolstered by his relationship with a top French TV anchor and his childhood as the son of a famous philosopher.
In an interview Monday, Royal referred to Glucksmann as “the media’s darling child.” MP Philippe Brun, who is running in the primary, last week called Glucksmann the French equivalent of a coastal elite.
Whoever wins the primary will face the specter of François Hollande’s imposing shadow. The former president is eyeing a comeback — but has decided to forgo the primary.