Rachida Dati was the big surprise of the last Government of Emmanuel Macron, formed last January. Her appointment as Minister of Culture shook the French political scene. She wanted to be a shock, although not everyone understood it. She was a figure from the right, former Minister of Justice of Nicolas Sarkozy, with a reputation as a very combative woman and an uninhibited and aggressive word. Her initial discretion in the position has been short-lived.
As revealed this Tuesday by the newspaper Le Monde, Dati reacted furiously to the announcement by the Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, that immediate savings of 10 billion euros had to be made to stop the galloping deficit. The minister would have sent her colleague an SMS with this phrase: “You are a big piece of shit.” And not only that, also through a mobile message – much more popular in France than WhatsApp – he would have threatened the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal: “I will transform your dog into a kebab.”
These were obviously jokes, although provocative and of dubious taste. The news immediately circulated on social networks. The interested party denied the SMS to Le Maire but not the one addressed to Attal.
Attal revealed a few weeks ago, posting a photo on Instagram, that he had a pet, a dog named Volta. “It had to be my secret garden… A photo on my phone screen this week decided otherwise,” the young prime minister wrote. “I have always been passionate about animals,” continued the premier, who confessed that he decided to adopt her shortly after being appointed to the head of the Government. He chose the name because of the animal’s “overflowing energy” and in honor of the inventor of the electric battery.
The controversy surrounding Dati’s SMS is, basically, harmless. The minister has other more serious matters to worry about. The weekly L’Obs has revealed more suspicions of shady dealings with Qatar and Azerbaijan. Dati is already prosecuted for alleged passive corruption and passive influence peddling for a collection of 900,000 euros from the Renault-Nissan automobile consortium. She denies any irregularity and, in fact, was not an impediment for Macron to offer her her current position.
Before joining the Ministry of Culture, Dati, 58, was the head of the conservative opposition in the Paris City Council. Her attacks on the mayor, socialist Anne Hidalgo, in recent years were furious. The terrible personal relationship is a handicap in the face of the cultural events planned for the Olympic Games.