Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin is on the cover this week with his wife and two children in Paris Match. This is a deliberate communication choice for someone who has not given up on his presidential ambitions.
In the privacy of Beauvau, Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin appears on the latest cover of Paris Match with his children and wife. In an interview, he confides that “his family allows him to put political difficulties into perspective.”
With confessions about his family life, immigration law, and political ambition, Gérald Darmanin leaves no doubt about his potential candidacy in the 2027 presidential election, stating “the question will come soon enough.”
Gérald Darmanin, the face of an immigration law largely censored by the Constitutional Council and now a minister in Gabriel Attal’s government, continues to dominate the media spotlight in recent weeks.
His presence is noticeable, and Véronique Reille-Soult, an opinion specialist and president of Backbone Consulting, notes that Darmanin “is one of the most mentioned and discussed ministers who receives the most messages every week.”
However, popularity is not necessarily synonym with notoriety. According to a new Ifop survey, the Interior Minister has a 39% favorable opinion. Although better than Emmanuel Macron’s 36%, Darmanin is not as popular as his Prime Minister. With a 53% favorable opinion, Gabriel Attal tops the list of favorite political figures among the French.
Reille-Soult explains that a word cloud for Darmanin consistently shows “complaint” as a prominent word, and that women, especially young women, do not appreciate him because he symbolizes to them the reality of abuse of power. She describes his communication style as “old-fashioned.”
Whether good or bad, this operation is far from inconsequential for Gérald Darmanin, who has long been accused of rape. The Minister has been definitively cleared by the Court of Cassation, confirming the case’s dismissal.
