Its objective is clear: “It is to ensure that Valérie Pécresse collects a maximum of sponsorship”, declares Patrick Stefanini. The campaign director of Valérie Pécresse, LR presidential candidate, was the guest of Europe 1 Weekend this Saturday. At the microphone of Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, he spoke about the 500 sponsorships necessary for the presidential candidate.
“The LR movement is not a barracks”
“It is the mayors and local elected officials who decide. They are independent figures.” They therefore remain “free of their sponsorship”. “The LR movement is not a barracks”, takes offense Patrick Stefanini. However, the members of the party are not forgetting that, “of course, they have a leader”, he adds.
Also questioned by Jean-Pierre Elkabbach on the rumors which would suggest that the Republicans would encourage the mayors to sponsor Eric Zemmour, the demented campaign manager. “The campaign leadership of Valérie Pécresse is not engaged in any maneuver tending to allow this or that other candidate to obtain these sponsorships.” Patrick Stefanini specifies, moreover, his attachment “to freedom”. “Mayors are responsible people.”
During the right-wing primary, Valérie Pécresse had collected the necessary 250 sponsorships. “One can think that she will at least gather her sponsorships there.” Despite the competition of his opponents, including a certain Édouard Philippe. “When Édouard Philippe organized his big meeting in Le Havre, he tried to pick up mayors who were close to Valérie Pécresse. He suffered a lot of refusals.” Except that, certainly, of Jean-Luc Moudenc, mayor of Toulouse, who recently joined the list of sponsors of the candidate LR.