On YouTube, Bayrou's “desperate style exercise” to defend his budget

French Prime Minister François Bayrou released the first episode of “FB Direct,” a podcast broadcast on YouTube, on Tuesday, August 5. “He points his index finger at the camera several times. François Bayrou clearly received training before sitting down in a white shirt and black tie in front of a half-empty library to address the French people,” the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports from Munich.

But the Prime Minister's office is not about offering beauty tutorials or playing the latest trendy video game, but rather about defending his actions at a time when his government is putting forward unpopular austerity measures to try to reduce the French deficit and debt.

“With only 18% approval rating, François Bayrou is the most unpopular French Prime Minister in a long time,” the center-left German newspaper points out. In this first episode, the 74-year-old Béarn native focused on dramatizing the country's budgetary situation to encourage the French to make additional efforts. “We are suffering from an illness that threatens our survival. […] There is no tomorrow,” he said, before comparing France to Greece, a country hit hard by austerity measures – the result of a debt crisis – and which has decided to make significant cuts to its social programs.

“Efforts must be made today, we cannot put them off until tomorrow” , François Bayrou was alarmed, expressing concern that “every second of every day and every night, France’s debt increases by 5,000 euros.” At the end of the first quarter of 2025, the public debt will stand at 3,345.8 billion euros, or 114% of GDP, according to figures from the Ministry of the Economy .

The Prime Minister promises, starting with the second episode, to provide delayed answers to Internet users who wish to question him about his budgetary choices or the country's financial situation. This approach remains symbolic for the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

“This appeal on social media, that is, to the people, is a desperate stylistic exercise on the part of the Prime Minister. In the end, it is Parliament that will decide his fate, and Bayrou does not have a majority there.”

For the French correspondent of the Swiss newspaper Blick , it's the timing, right in the middle of summer and the holidays, that raises questions. "Why risk the media backlash that seems to be looming, since the first ' FB Direct ' episode garnered fewer than 10,000 views?" writes Richard Werly. The Swiss journalist's response: "This video (and those that follow) allows the Prime Minister to occupy the field and appear as a courageous and educational leader," while sending "a signal to all those who want to eliminate him, including Macron, who would like, it is said, to replace him with the Minister of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu," calling the French people to witness.

The official presentation of the draft finance bill to parliamentarians is due to take place from the beginning of October.