His voice was recognizable among a thousand for the French. It was even more so for the leaders and personalities who succeeded each other at his microphone. A pillar of the French media landscape for more than fifty years, Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, who died on Tuesday at the age of 86, had also become an institution in the political world. As respected as feared thanks to his sharp and tenacious interviews, the journalist has interviewed several generations of actors in the public debate, since his rise to notoriety during the mandate of Valéry Giscard D'Estaing, in the 1970s. Decade when his show "Cartes sur table", alongside Alain Duhamel, remained in the memories.
That is why a large part of the political class pays tribute to him. Starting with former President Nicolas Sarkozy. In a message published on X, the former head of state expressed his "sadness to see leave tonight a great of journalism". "Passionate about politics, bulimic about information, pugnacious and uncompromising interviewer, demanding media director and visionary, he left his mark on an entire generation," continued the former strongman of the right. And to tell to have "hoped so much, then young elected, to be his guest at the microphone of Europe 1 until he gives me my chance.
»" READ ALSO The political journalist Jean-Pierre Elkabbach died at 86 years old
His former Minister of Justice Rachida Dati recalled her very first interview, which was conducted by Jean-Pierre Elkabbach. For the aedile, this moment was "as much a trial as a consecration." It is "a great voice of the radio that will be missed," said the mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The boss of the senators LR Bruno Retailleau has, meanwhile, applauded "one of the most talented and demanding interviewers of his generation." "Journalism and politics lose a brilliant and cultured mind, which knew how to put within everyone's reach both the spectacle of the world and the backstage of our public stage," insisted the senator of Vendée.
On the side of the nationalist right, Jordan Bardella praised a man who "kept alive our democratic debate", thanks to "half a century of political journalism, and memorable interviews". Few voices have yet been expressed on the left. For the time being, only Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the PCF, paid tribute to the editorialist, as a nod to the passes of arms between the columnist and his illustrious communist predecessor: "His mythical exchanges with Georges Marchais will remain engraved." "Fellow traveler of the Fifth Republic, Jean-Pierre Elkabbach will have marked the media history of our country," said the former presidential candidate. Who "appreciated, in turn, his interviews, always respectful.
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