Gabriel Attal Launches French Presidential Bid with Paris Rally, Targeting Far-Right and Far-Left
Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal held his first major campaign rally in Paris on Saturday, positioning himself as a candidate of "action and hope" against what he called the "merchants of hate" on the political extremes.
A campaign of 'action and hope'
Gabriel Attal officially launched his campaign for the 2027 French presidential election with a rally at the Parc des Expositions in Paris on Saturday. The former Prime Minister and current leader of the Renaissance party sought to embody "action and hope," explicitly contrasting his optimistic vision with the more austere tone of his centrist rival, former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.
I leave the blood and tears to others. I promise you action and hope.
Attal, who declared his candidacy a week earlier from Aveyron, told the crowd he had "matured" while serving as Prime Minister and a minister under President Emmanuel Macron, proving it was possible to "move things without setting France ablaze."
Targeting the extremes
In his speech, Attal clearly identified his primary political adversaries. He labeled La France Insoumise (LFI) and the Rassemblement National (RN) as "merchants of hate, apostles of decline, and artisans of nostalgia." He called on the French people not just to block these parties, but to "submerge" them.
My adversaries are not those with whom we governed until 2024. My adversaries are the merchants of hate, the apostles of decline, the artisans of nostalgia.
He framed the election as a battle to "break the stranglehold of the extremes" and rejected a return to old political divides, criticizing "conservatism from both the left and the right."
Four key priorities
While a full program is yet to be unveiled, Attal outlined four "capital projects" for his campaign: education, work, borders, and artificial intelligence. On education, which he called the "mother of all battles," he promised to restore the "shock of knowledge" reforms he attempted as Education Minister and to reduce primary school class sizes to fewer than 20 pupils by leveraging a projected demographic decline.
He also pledged to present a comprehensive strategy for a "massive increase in salaries," refusing to cede the issue of work and wages to the left. Attal set an ambitious national goal: to make France the "leading power in Europe within ten years" and to restore the certainty that each generation will live better than the last.
Rally atmosphere and attendance
Attendance figures varied by source. Organizers claimed over 5,000 supporters filled the air-conditioned Hall 4 of the exhibition center, a welcome refuge from the stifling Paris heat. Independent estimates placed the crowd between 3,000 and 4,000 people. The event took place just hours before the Champions League final featuring Paris Saint-Germain, a fact the speaker used to energize the crowd.
The president trusted me, and I will never forget that.
Despite the enthusiastic core of supporters, some observers noted the atmosphere struggled to fully ignite, suggesting the path to the Élysée Palace remains long and the competition, particularly from Philippe, is fierce.
