The former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy became a figure of fun for some when he was eliminated in the first round of his party’s presidential primaries. He does, however, retain the backing of those closest to him.
In the aftermath of his downfall, Sarkozy’s wife, Carla Bruni, posted a message of support on Instagram, while his youngest son, Louis, sent his own on Facebook.
“Sometimes, the best lose. Bravo my love, I am proud of you,” Bruni wrote, alongside a monochrome picture of Sarkozy:
The former president himself said in the aftermath of his defeat that he would have to “embark on a life with more private passions and fewer public passions”. Louis, however, was keen to stress that his father’s passion was still for his country.
“Some love stories never end,” he wrote in a post that showed his father in his younger days holding the tricolour on the Place de la Concorde in central Paris.
Many people responding to their messages had similar words of support for Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, before being defeated by the the Socialist candidate, François Hollande.
“I am so sad. France has lost a great head of state,” one wrote in response to Bruni’s post. “Your farewell speech was moving. Bravo. Make the most of your private passions now,” wrote another.
Some posted messages claiming they would be leaving Sarkozy’s centre-right party, Les Républicains, in protest at the result of the first round of voting. Former prime minister François Fillon finished in first place on Sunday, with another former PM, Alain Juppé, in second.
Others were less kind to a man who split opinion as president. “Good riddance, phew,” one respondent to Bruni’s post wrote.
