And suddenly, the Elysée switchboard almost exploded. The fault, which would have imagined it, of a reality starlet. Friday, Brigitte Macron split a phone call to Nabilla Benattia, confined to Dubai, to thank her for the donation of 10,000 euros that she made personally to her foundation, Hôpitaux de Paris-Hôpitaux de France , against coronavirus.
"Nabilla, no, but hello what?" She could have avoided ... ”sighs a regular at the Palace, doubtful. In fact, the "influencer" broadcast the video of their exchange to its 5.6 million subscribers on Instagram, with the welcome number of the Presidency perfectly readable on the screen of their smartphone, which some took by mistake for the number of the first lady… Culture shock, Brigitte Macron also met on Friday with the American first lady, Melania Trump.
So goes life in these hours of crisis in the Madame de l'Elysée wing, which she never leaves, confinement requires. His walk on the banks of the Seine on the day of the first round of the municipal elections had caused a stir. Rare reason for satisfaction in this forced quarantine, according to an intimate: "She is worried, but very happy to have her husband every evening at home! "
A call from Didier Raoult
Surrounded by doctors in her own family - her daughter Laurence is a cardiologist - she talks to her loved ones every day. Not long ago, the thundering professor Didier Raoult even called her to deliver news of a friend from Marseilles, treated against Covid-19 with chloroquine.
Since the launch on March 16 of an emergency fund to help caregivers, the sick and isolated residents of nursing homes, the first lady has spent her days on the phone from her office, raising funds and thanking donors. Singers Patrick Bruel and Calogero, OM striker Florian Thauvin, or star youtubers McFly and Carlito all received a call from him.
VIDEO. Coronavirus: McFly and Carlito collect 404,000 euros for hospitals
Small businesses too, like this company in Vendée, whose employees gave days off to donate to the foundation. Finally, individuals, such as this couple hospitalized in the south of France, who granted 15,000 euros. Every day, she makes a point of “conf-call” with the members of her “scientific council”: pediatricians, geriatricians and heads of hospital departments who support the foundation.
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On several occasions, she spoke with the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran. Objective: to identify the urgent needs of caregivers and their patients. Masks? No. If she was alerted to the shortage, which questions the state of the government's unpreparedness, the subject falls to the executive. It focuses on everyday objects.
A total of 15 million euros mobilized
Since mid-March, the foundation, long directed by Bernadette Chirac, has had 20,000 digital tablets equipped with cameras delivered to hospitals and nursing homes, to allow the sick, elderly and young babies to stay in touch with their loved ones and break up the isolation, made compulsory by the threat of the spread of the coronavirus.
Likewise, 50,000 meals and 20,000 toiletry kits were distributed to caregivers, as well as respirators, armchairs for rest rooms, nutrition pumps, hotel rooms for relatives of the poor, and sometimes costs. funeral. In total, 15 million euros were mobilized, including 10 million for the hospitals most affected.
It is not the first time since 2017 that the charity of the first lady is so highlighted, when her husband is under fire from critics. A way for the Macron couple to sculpt the image of a “thaumaturge” president - like the kings who heal the scabbards - as tension mounts over the government's ignition delays.