Sarkozy gets off lightly
During the French election I meant to write something about the way Sarkozy had annoyed French winemakers by revealing he never touched a drop, but I never got round to it.
I guess it was that were responsible for this performance at a news conference during the G8 summit.
No wonder Blair talks about a 鈥渇eral鈥 media: if this had happened to him, it would be the only source of discussion for days. It鈥檚 been no big thing, as far as I can see, in the French media.
UPDATE: Thanks for your comments. I have replied to some of them here.
I鈥檓 Mark Mardell, the 大象传媒's North America editor. These are my reflections on American politics, some thoughts on being a Brit living in the USA, and who knows what else? My 
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OK. So he wasn't drunk ? I watched the other clips from the same press conference posted on YouTube and he definitely wasn't well, at one point looking as though he was on the verge of throwing up. I have lived in France for 10 years and am well acquainted with the performances of M. Sarkozy, and this, for whatever reason, was not his best. It is to be expected that speculation will arise as to the cause. And what was with the shoulder shrugging before he put his earpiece in ? Jetlag perhaps... Germany being so far away and all.
It's been "no big thing" because the French media don't dare.
I don麓t see why it should be a "big thing". Watching the clip, I agree, Sarkozy seemed a bit drunk or otherwise "out of it", but he also appeared more human and "sympa" (as the French say) than I have yet seen him. Personally, "Dubya" Bush has warned me off "teetotaler" leaders forever....
I am tickled by the suggestion that Monsieur Sarkozy is not at least tipsy during this press conference... his speech and mannerism is that of someone who does not frequently drink, granted. Though I suspect that Mr. Putin was quite persuasive in convincing Sarkozy to sample some of Russia's finer delicacies. An alternative trick to espionage perhaps?... Maybe he is trying to bring the West down from within!
It says he had just come from a meeting with Putin.... Maybe he was poisoned!
Maybe if so many of his 'friends' owned media outlets in France there would have been more coverage.
Argh... so the (french language) Belgian public broadcaster apologized to big brother.
Why don't they join them?
Would solve some local problems, it would.
The clip that was found on You Tube, Daily Motion, etc has apparently been viewed around 1 million times.
As a consultant in political marketing among other things, I looked at the clip several times. We usually have techniques to figure out what is really happening.
I found Mr. Sarkozy's wavering something unsettling. It occured to me that Tavarich Poutine could have put something in a spiked drink. Knowing that the French president has been under a lot of stress did not alleviate my concerns.
Clinton said that he didn't have sex!
Me thinks he had too much red wine to drink.
`No wonder Blair talks about a 鈥渇eral鈥 media: if this had happened to him, it would be the only source of discussion for days.'
That's because he spent so much effort on image and so little on real substance. The result is that the only thing to talk about is the image and whether it is working or has slipped or has been made over etc...
He made his bed and now he's complaining about how uncomfortable it is. Cry me a river.
George Bush........teetotaller. I think you may want to check your facts
If anybody has ever seen anybody drunk then you can tell Sarkozy was, it almost seemed that has was doing a drunk person impression.
I am less worried about a political leader who has had too much to drink than I am at the fact that a media outlet was 'persuaded' to apologise for stating the obvious. Free speech is at risk of being endangered because of the centralisation of media power to a handfull of business men who often spend their lunches rubbing shoulders with the people their respective media outlets are ment to be 'informing' the public about.
Two things about this report. Firstly, the french press has privacy laws which the english press need badly, very badly. It would avoid the 'speculative' lies which pervade all the english media.
Secondly, M. Sarkozy genuinely does not drink alcohol as far as can be ascertained.
Also, the comment about owning the press would be more appropriately targeted at the english establishment.
Didn't Bush fall ill in a non-specified way shortly after one of his meetings with Putin? In fact, wasn't it Sarkozy who conveyed Bush's apologies for his absence?
Let the conspiracy theories commence...
Drunk or not, where is the problem? At least he was not driving or making decisions to send French troops somewhere in the world to "defend democracy". Got it?
to Paul, that may be in the cards, I believe that Flanders is talking to Wales and Scotland to start a league of occupied nations in modern Europe
I totally agree with Ben's comment. I can't remember very well...was it before or after that drink that 'France' changed opinion on Kosova's independence and asked for 6 more months?
If we're discussing the merits or otherwise of teetotal leaders, look no further than Adolf Hitler.
Will you Brits ever stop moaning? You moan about your polititians and then moan about moaning about them. If Blair showed up drunk in public it would be a perfectly legitimate "source of dicussion for days". It's a disgrace if anybody shows up pissed at work, but it's nothing short of a national embarassment if the leader of a respectable country shows up in this state at an international press conference. The muted reaction in France is a sad reflection on French media, not British one. And the groveling apology from the Belgium broadcaster (for a perfectly innocuous joke) is a shame.
I think it is curious to note how different "societies" i.e. nations react to fundamentally superfluous news. Bill Clinton had to apologize for something ( ...we all know what!...) that was fundamentally private, and no one should have really known about (it wasn't like he did it in front of cameras!), whilst the French president appears drunk, or visibly altered, in front of cameras, after a meeting with Putin at the G8 (NOT a private encounter) and the blame is on Belgian TV for making the video public??!!
I reallydislike Sarkozy, but if I had put in the amount of work that he did over the last few months, I would be half-dead.
Polonium-210 is strong stuff!
There is no way that man is drunk. It looked like he had rushed too fast to get to the room and was in oxygen debt and/or hypoglycaemia, both of which I've suffered from in the past.
Also he looked to be recovering toward the end of the clip, exactly as happens with the above conditions - rushing too fast with little preparation, not eaten enough during the day and wham...you look and behave drunk for a few seconds.
Sarkozy is known to be a tee-totaler, and so most likely was not tipsy from alcohol. And if a tee-totaler did decide to indulge, I highly doubt he would do so to the point of intoxication.
As such, while the Belgian comment would probably have been viewed as just a joke against any other dignitary, when directed at someone who makes it a point to abstain from alcohol, it's not only poking fun at him, but questioning a strong committment he has made, and so it's not so outlandish that they would apologize.
I highly doubt that any pressure was put on the Belgian media to apologize, since no one really seemed to think the incident was a big deal.
Also, "carton" is correct in what he says about Blair in comment #21. If Blair was to be found tipsy on air, that would indeed be legitimate gossip! It's all about the target - had the Belgian media made a joke about Sarkozy's personal life and relationship with his wife, I doubt anyone would have blinked - but his tee-totaling is, it seems, a fact, and so allegations of intoxication are more hurtful.
In any case, it still isn't a big deal. Appearing a little out-of-it on camera is hardly the biggest gaff Sarkozy is likely to undergo during his term under the media's constant, all-seeing eye.
I think its interesting that if alcohol is used to cement friendships at this level of international relations, the Russians would still appear to have the upper hand. During the seventies Chinese leaders reportedly switched alcohol for tea by sleight of hand when meeting their Soviet counterparts ... maybe thats something Sarkozy should work on.
Pres. Sarkozy's supposedly "tipsy" appearance is irrelevant. He may in fact be a teetotaller as he claims, but that certainly would not be his most serious problem.
If Sarkozy wasn't drunk, then it might be something he smoked...!!
I think it's a real shame that the belgian broadcaster had to apologise for showing something true and funny. After all a press conference isn't exactly private and the state of Sarkozy was obviously far from normal ...
So what if President Sarkozy had himself a little treat? He's not a baby. He wasn't driving a car or operating machinery or watching over children. Most important, he's not sending his country into war.
Whether drunk or not, I find Mr Sarkosy sympa and human and atractive and good for France!
I just watched the clip and i m fluent in French as well as a phonetician , I could definitely say he was drunk , he does not normally speak french like that.
What does it matter if he has had one too many. We are all allowed to let our hair down occasionally, even if it is not ideal timing
Tacky. very tacky. to do the dirty thing and suggest that it was perscription drugs. You know very well what happens when you throw mud. Tony Blair is right you are a pack of animals.
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned vodka - odourless, tasteless . . . .
I agree with Martin, it looks to me like he had run from his meeting because he was late, and was panting for breath as a result.
My main thought is on the reporting of it by the 大象传媒, on your news pages:
"Mr Sarkozy, who insists he is a teetotaller....." and "Mr Sarkozy... says he is a long-distance runner..."
This seems to me to hark back to yesterday's debate. You seem never to take anything at face value any more, but always try to cast doubt on everything a politician says. What is wrong with "Mr Sarkozy is a teetotaller" and "Mr Sarzozy is a regular runner". They're both pretty well-established facts. No doubt if he had commented on enjoying bacon and eggs with Mr Putin, you'd have been reporting "Mr Sarkozy CLAIMED he had eaten breakfast...." or "when is Sarkozy going to come clean about the cost to taxpayers of his free meal with Putin....". It really is no wonder politicians don't trust you to report fairly.
With so many important and interesting things to talk about regarding the EU, reserving space and time for the "topic" above makes Mr. Mardell's blog look more like a supermarket tabloid.
More interestingly perhaps, what comments would the media (you included Mark)have made had it been Miss Royal? Oh yes we would have heard all the suggestions about her being unfit for office etc... So then no sexism in the media?
Mr. Hunt, I have to say that your assessment seems a little far-fetched. Suggesting that the leader of France had not had enough to eat during a G8 summit, frankly, does not ring true. As a newcommer to the scene, he is far more likely to indulge other leaders (by, say, a sip of the good stuff) to get them on side. Don't forget he is in the process of "making friends". Perhaps he sees an advantage of befriending Vladimir Putin, while the problem surrounding Russia and America brews.
Could Sarkozy have been suffering from radiation poisoning?
Yes, he does look more than a little tipsy.
While seemingly inappropriate for any professional to be inebriated 'on the job', this can be forgiven. G8 originally set up many years back as an informal together between heads of state so what better way than over a few glasses?
However, very odd that an apology had to be given for stating what is plain to see. That is peculiar and untoward.
Come on Belgians - show your mettle!
I agree with Mame du Bois' comment that it the real issue is the reporting. But perhaps it is not the freedom of the press that is the issue, but more their intelligence. I'm more concerned with what he might have been saying to Mr. Putin than how much he had to drink. Did they talk about aids in africa, climate change, or oil reserves. Or was it just the quality of the caviar?
Blair is right about the 'feral media'.
Blair drunk would have consumed the British press.
Front page news to start with and then dozens of editorials afterwards as well as follow up stories such as 'Blair got drunk at University'.
I hate to think of measures to curb the British press, but the sad reality is that our newspapers have got out of hand.
Tabloids are still the biggest sellers, and they have lost any sense of journalism. They are just silly.
At the moment we have front page news stories about Big Brother housemates, and intrusive pictures of celebrities.
It sells papers but it is not news to show Britney Spears with a breast slipping out of her dress at a party.
Check out the difference between the Sun twenty years ago and the Sun today. One is a newspaper. The other isn't.
The broadsheets are dumbing down as well.
Well, what if he was drunk?
Hitler was teetotal, Churchill famously wasn't.
Who do you prefer?
There is an interesting discussion to be had about the way the French and British press acts, though.
What's best? The French over-respect for the great and the good, or the British hounding of them?
Careful, folks, don't forget the Scottish alternative, "not drunk, merely of drink taken".
Actually it seems to me that he was remembering a very good joke. I wish one day he could tell it......
Let's wait some years for his memories!!!
From my observation, Sarkozy looked more like somebody who have just heard some funny joke and still wiping it off his mind. Who said politicians don't share jokes after meetings.
At the start of the video he looks definitely unwell. But unlike nesreen I do not hear a drunk man. He does look about to be sick at one point, but maybe more from some sort of dyspepsia. But the content of his speech is far too sophisticated and precise to be of a drunk man. As for the earpiece, has anyone ever tried to repeat difficult sentences from an earpiece, and speak and listen at the same time? I struggle to do it when sober, can't imagine even a consumate professional doing it when drunk.
... am I bothered! Whatever! Surely there are more important political issues to discuss rather than wasting time on this incident?
It would be even more surprising if Sarkozy was drunk after a meeting with Putin, who is himself teetotal.
He apolgized for being late!
Anyone ever think that he might just have been out of breath from rushing there and a bit stressed because of his late arrival?
The Press is the same World wide! "Anything for a story" wheather or not the facts are confirmed. I believe in free speach, but at least get the real facts before reporting them.
Rumors are like War! We fight with each other before considering to sit down and discuss the reasons for fighting and resolving the situation! All for 'big' bucks!
An American point of view.
Watching the guy got me really laughing out loud. There's no way he wasn't intoxicated in that bit.
As for why it received little attention in the French media, one would only need to look at his entourage.
All right , I suppose we have to assume this is his normal state?
FUNNY or NOT FUNNY ?
Whatever caused the funny incident, whatever the importance of the meeting, one thing is a little bit worrying:
Who was in charge of the nuclear button at that precise moment ?
Was Sarkozy tipsy? Well he certainly seemed out of breath and by his own admission late, so perhaps he had been running - but then again he jogs each day!
One problem may simply be that Sarkozy is being subjected to much greater pressure to drink 'just a glass' in order to be polite. As we know, even one glass can have adverse effects on those who dont drink.
Second and more likely in my view is that the man is close to exhaustion after the most intense few months of his life. If he is on medication then that would only increase the cocktail effect.
One reason why the French media may not be getting in a twist is because it is still perfectly acceptable to drink at lunchtime, but not to get drunk.
Finally, the French do not consider wine to be 'alcohol' which they associate more with spirits - but then again if Putin slipped a nip of vodka into Sarkos O juice the effects could have been devastating!
Steve: interesting point. I didn鈥檛 write the news story, but while I agree 鈥渃laim鈥 sounds like the writer doesn鈥檛 believe him, I am also very wary of stating this or that simply on the word of a politician. Or journalist. Or anyone. As far as I can see, 鈥淢r Sarkozy, who says he鈥檚 a teetotaller,鈥 has the virtue of being true. Stating that he IS a teetotaller is something I haven鈥檛, and probably can鈥檛, check out.
Martin Hunt: you could be right about him running. He was certainly out of breath. But then he is a runner. Or says he is.
Marc: why would someone鈥檚 sex make a difference? I just don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 the case.
Rolando Saniz: this doesn鈥檛 wash on a number of levels. First, I might agree if this was a major news bulletin, but there is no 鈥淲e only had half an hour so we couldn鈥檛 fit it in鈥 here. It hasn鈥檛 stopped any more serious comment being aired. And I suggested it should go up, because in the office we were e-mailing it to each other and falling about laughing. I hate, really hate, the idea that journalists and politicians are grown up enough to see such material because they are mature enough to enjoy it, as long as the readers and viewers and listeners don鈥檛 get hold of it. I strongly believe that you should be allowed to judge. You can think it鈥檚 trivial and unimportant, or earth-shattering, or simply amusing. But you can鈥檛 make that judgement unless someone allows you to see it.
sorry to let out people... our Sarko was not poisoned, but he does drink. mostly just enough but once in a while he let's go. this was one of them times... remember - i didn't say it!
I would like to add that there is no such thing as 'Belgian TV'. RTBF is the public broadcaster for the French speaking minority in Belgium. VRT is the public broadcaster for the Flemish majority in Belgium.
Thank you in advance for pointing out the difference in the future.
Lord how people can get hung up on a complete non-story! The French don't really "respect their great and good" overly much, it's more that we genuinaly don't care what they get up to in private.
As for Sarko being drunk...can't say I noticed anything amiss. He was talking in a manner that passes as normal for him, at least some of the time. He can get a little overexcited.
His being teetotal does not buy him any brownie points here (this is not America) but neither does it provide a source of derision: no-one really cares.
I think Putin (and do you know how a slight mispronounciation of that name makes French speakers either whinge or giggle?) probably just told him one of his off colour jokes. That or Sarko realised just how funny the Russian leader's name could be.
guess what guys - I'm a runner, and when I run, I get out of breath - especially running in a suit, in a hot building, in hard leather shoes...
The man fidgeted with the bottle, that's for sure. I've been drunk many times myself to appreciate this absolute fact. Although I am against alcohol, I find almost refreshing to see that a stateman can so frenchely show his humanity, instead of throwing at the crowd an ever so polished version of who he/she is not. Don't shout "Scandal!" as some may think a head of state should set a good example as he has great power to influence a whole nation. This is true too! I'm pretty sure that french winemakers are quite pleased at this free high profile advertising. But I am sick of lies, deception, anglo-saxon obsession with that image that is nothing but a pill to make whole people fall asleep. At least now we know that there's a human being in the french tob office, not the puppet of the medias and industry, product of the corporations. J'ai fini!
I think its not so much as that Sarkozy is drunk, but that Putin got him that drunk.
"I hate, really hate, the idea that journalists and politicians are grown up enough to see such material because they are mature enough to enjoy it, as long as the readers and viewers and listeners don鈥檛 get hold of it."
Well said Mark!
I never saw the exact wording of President Sarkozy's statement that he "didn't drink" but in French that is nowhere near the same as claiming to be teetotal (something which I have never seen or heard a man say in more than 50 years' acquaintance with France and the French, fully 30 of them as a resident). "Je ne bois pas" means no more than "I do not habitually drink to excess" - a statement most French men of 52 would feel capable of making with a reasonably straight face.
So poor Sarko was entrapped by Mr Putin's hospitality. He won't be the last, either. It is naive to imagine that alcohol is not used as an ice-breaker, a lubricant and a weapon at every level of international affairs, including the highest: it happens all the time and those used to it are duly wary; it is simply that (a) Mr Sarkozy is new to the job and (b) his predecessor was famously able to take the stuff and ask for more.
Mark, to your response to Rolando Saniz:
If you and your colleagues were emailing this story round and falling about laughing in the office, why not just email it round to your address book and let it spread then die out organically, like so many other funny stories? That you put it on your blog on which you usually air opinions of more gravity DOES dumb down your blog. While it hasn't "stopped any more serious comment being aired", this story and other more frivolous ones, have made me think twice about reading the 大象传媒 website at all recently.
The argument that "the public should be allowed to judge" doesn't wash at all. The fact that the 大象传媒 news coverage is unlimited in space and time, means it need be even more selective in its coverage, not less. Do I really need to wade through stories to judge whether they are worth reading? It doesn't warrant the patience, and it makes no sense.
Well this guy has lost all credibility... and after only a couple of weeks. Anybody who has ever seen a drunk person can see that he was drunk, and nothing wrong with that at all! But to then go on and deny what is perfectly obvious, if he can't tell the truth about something so insignificant, then will he tell the truth about anything important?
How nice it is from the French media that they can't keep themselves from promptly reprinting the Danish cartoons that desecrate most of what the Muslims hold dear, and when it's reported that their president appears at a press conference visibly drunk, only an apology can be heard for hurting French national pride. After all it's understandable that they shun the topic, since most French have already seen the thing on YouTube. Time for the English to make a trip to Paris, the French seem to be so much better in hypocrisy these days...
Now how about posting a link to the video of Gordon Brown allegedly picking his nose?
Purely in the interest of political neutrality.
Hitler didn't touch a drop whilst Winston Chuchill was notorious for his love of Brandy! Who do you recall preferring?!
....I trust Mr Boever will be removed from office by RTBF for making this outrageous and unsubstantiated apology. Dare he be let loose to continue in his role in this form?
Brave little Belgium
If he wasn't drunk? What was it?
Is there something wrong with the media reporting the facts about the French President?
How can one say that this makes him more human ? My point of view is that there is quite a chance that things went on as follows :
1) Sarkozy IS a teetotaller. Putin knows it, and presses his "new" friend (Sarkozy can't resist to that...) to try a new ... vodka... whatever.
2) Putin makes him drunk enough, just before his press conference. What for ?
3) well well well. Putin has interests in the Arab world (teetotallers too, take note) that are not exactly in phase with those of Sarkozy. Lebanon... Syria... Iran... etc. So why should he resist to make fun of the French President ? Besides, those have been the ways of the Soviets for years.
Whodunit ? Farfetched ?
Yet plausible, and quite too much.
I don't think any more that Sarkozy is reliable.
ah, sarkozy looks suspiciously happy - perhaps he was merely stoned! just joking. i'm so tired of this re/emerging puritanical stance against alcohol. alcoholism is a disease, binge drinking reflects societal "norms" at present. demonizing a beverage begs the question: why do people want to obliterate their consciousness? three guesses - they can't handle the reality they've helped to create. pure and simple.
I don't believe that he was drunk.
He was doing very well after this few first sentences, which is why I think that he has been running not to be too late. And that's it!
And if the French media hasn't talked about that (some people call it incident...), it may be because they are smarter than the British one.
They just don't talk about that because it's absolutely useless.
Talking about the Belgian journalists, they should care about their own problems instead of showing that kind of thing in the news.
As far as I know they have enough problems with their recent election results.
I also don't like the fact that many British allow themselves to judge someone that they don't even understand (do you speak French? do you know how different is the sound of drunk French compare to normal French?).
One more thing.
The French socialist party is always trying to find out facts to could disturb Sarkozy's party. They really use everything they can. But hey! They have not been using this 'incident'. Why?
It's just because it wasn't a incident!!
Amazing how much ado about nothing can stir so much dust. The French, of course, have not made an issue of this because they're French, thankfully. This Anglo-Saxon thing of adoring to destroy anything finding its way into the press under such circumstances is vicious. So much hypocrisy, particularly when it comes to anything French. Leave the fellow alone; of course he was not drunk! Do you imagine him hiding with Putin to get secrets from him on vodka? Have you never seen what it looks like to be out of breath? He's pretty spectacular, old Sarko. I'm so glad we have him around!
Looks like the French really do have their own George Bush now. Keep him away from the pretzels.
Might not be alcohol. Sarko likes the cycling community - so he might have picked up a tip or two from there !!
If the vodka is inevitable; at least glass sizes should be arranged for each president.
Nerves - yes does happen. There was a similar incident when he was in Washington before this.
He was always more comfortable on his home turf and he doesnt like an audience where there could be questions in English - as happened in the US when he explained that he would speak French because of all the French Journalists present - as if the Washington French press corps don't speak English.
Watch again when he visits some Central European coutries or the Nordic coutries where they will happily use English at a press conference.
I asked a friend of mine who is a member of the UMP here in Paris and he had seen similar instances where he is not comfortable - whether it be language or a subject upon which he has not been well briefed.
In vino veritas
Apparently he was so nervous he couldn't even dream of pronouncing the name of 'la journaliste', Anna Politkovskaya...
Not drunk? Watch with the sound off. He is displaying every classic trait of someone who is intoxicated. I can't see him having an inner ear problem.....but if we want to be pedantic, he did only state that he was not DRUNK, he did not state he was not intoxicated...
Not a word about this in the French media at all - why?
Because the press and the tv are completely gagged or in the pocket of the powerful. Another interesting Sarkozy question - where is Mrs Sarkozy? If Cherie Blair had been as invisible as the French first lady, the story would have run for ever! I live in France and despair at the poor quality and lack of clarity across the news media....
It is worth noting this clip was only shown on Belgium's Walloon language tv channel!
The channels that the Dutch speaking 60% of the Belgians watch, prefer to show clips of drunk Belgians, usually Walloons like Michel Daerden.
President Sarkozy was not drunk. He is a teetotal. Eric Boever already apologised.
William Faulkner - he has been to Poland recently, spoke French and wasn't nervous.
Drunk or not, it was certainly funny
its just not a big thing in the french media because our freedom of press ended with his election. It is very spoken of in offices, schools and universities though...
Does it really matter in private! No!
In public, with their position, yes it does!
Neil Hewitt
I've just discovered your blog sir, (bonne continuation)so have only just come across your story about Mr Sarkozy's performance at the G8 meeting. We are assured that he doesn't drink but he may well have had to toast for diplomacy's sake with Mr Putin or someone else adter this or that agreement. A good Russian Vodka and an excitable teetotaller is probably not a good match. That could explain his indeniably strange conduct, including during his few minutes of speech after this peculiar introduction. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
However what bothered me, as a French resident for more than half my life, more than three decades, and definitely 'gone native', is that the French media barely touched the story. I challenged a few people here about this 'omerta' but they didn't seem surprised, even those who had actually seen the clip via YouKnowWho, weren't perturbed. "He was sloshed, so what?" would just about sum it up. The impression that he might have given the rest of the world didn't seem to bother them in the slightest, not through their mythical arrogance, but simply because for them it is not a sin and shows that their new president is just a normal bloke with 'cou*lles'.
They may be right, it never did Bill Clinton any harm.