“I do not want to further expose my family to these vile attacks. After all, no one should ever suffer such violence. Here because I have decided to withdraw from the race for mayor of Paris“. With these words Benjamin Griveaux, candidate for mayor of the French capital in the party of President Emmanuel Macron (LREM), he prematurely ended his electoral campaign, definitively withdrawing his candidacy. The reason is that in recent days a sexual video has been shot on social media concerning him: "This is too much, now all shots are allowed," Griveaux added bitterly.
A few weeks after the local elections (in Paris we vote on 15 and 22 March), Macron therefore loses his card to play to win a very important seat: in recent years Paris has always voted for the center-left and given the crisis of the Socialist Party, this round could have been favorable on paper, also considering that in the capital many voted for Macron in the 2017 presidential elections and in the European elections of last year. In reality, however, the polls did not say exactly this: the favorite is the outgoing mayor Anne Hidalgo, elected precisely with the socialists and who is focusing almost all of her program on the environment and sustainable mobility, and behind her it seems that the republican is positioned Rachida Dati, former Minister of Justice under the presidency of Sarkozy and MEP from 2009 to 2019.
Hidalgo also expressed immediate solidarity with his political rival, arguing that "respect for private life is needed. Paris and the Parisians deserve a worthy debate”. The race could now become entirely female, given that to replace Griveaux (Macron has already said that he wants to try at all costs, even with a last-minute candidate) the names circulating are those of Delphine Bürkli, "mayor" of the XNUMXth arrondissement, close to premier Edouard Philippe and former exponent of the centre-right; and Marlène Schiappa, Undersecretary for Equal Opportunities.
