To run a country, you need to surround yourself with people you trust. And Emmanuel Macron understood it well. At the Elysee Palace, the President of the Republic can of course count on the unwavering support of his wife Brigitte and his right-hand man, Prime Minister Jean Castex. But others act rather in the shadows. This is the case of Alexis Kohler, his "second mark ” after his wife, his “keeper of secrets ” with whom he sometimes debates until 2am over a whiskey. And when it comes to the cultural concerns of the French, it is not to Minister Roselyne Bachelot that Emmanuel Macron turns … but rather to another shadowy woman: Rima Abdul-Malak. In its edition of Thursday, January 21, 2021, in a paper entitled “The other Minister of Culture”, The Obs was interested in the culture and media advisor of the presidential cabinet.
“A second Minister of Culture”, Very close to the President
As one “used to" from the Elysee Palace to our colleagues, Rima Abdul-Malak is now part "advisers who, without being at the President's side 24 hours a day, have a real influence. You can tell in the way he talks about her that he attaches great importance to her”. In July 2020, the forty-year-old of Lebanese origin was also approached to replace Franck Riester at the Ministry of Culture. And although it has remained in the shadows, for the benefit of Roselyne Bachelot, Rima Abdul-Malak maintains a real close relationship with the head of state. “She is part of the small delanist mafia that Macron appreciates ”, indicates The Obs. It is from her that he takes advice on matters of culture.
“Macron and Abdul-Malak send poems by SMS”, reveal in particular our colleagues. The advice of his culture advisor is essential, and he follows it without hesitation: "When the President goes on a trip, she prepares a selection of books for him, which he takes the trouble to read. ” For Rima Abdul-Malak, it was essential to “to log in" to Emmanuel Macron in order to “understand what he likes ". A task that she obviously accomplished brilliantly, so much so that The Obs describes it as “a second Minister of Culture, a shadow minister whom we court almost before the real one ”.
Read also : Testimonial: "I wrote Emmanuel Macron's campaign speeches"