"It was better to be in shape": Anne Hidalgo recalls her interview with Jean-Pierre Elkabbach

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credits: FRED DUFOUR / AFP 08:34, 04 October 2023

A "pugnacious" and "tireless" interviewer who marked his time. The political class, unanimously, paid tribute Tuesday night to the journalist Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, who died at the age of 86. "I had the chance to meet him as soon as I was elected mayor of Paris in 2001. He was curious, he was interested in what could lead me to politics," recalls the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.

"He was someone who pushed you to your limits"

"I had the chance to be interviewed several times by him and it was always demanding, to be interviewed by Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, it was better to be in shape. He was not a lesson giver, he was someone who pushed you to your limits but at the same time had the taste of others, "adds the mayor of Paris.

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Interviews "always respectful"

Many recalled the journalist's uncompromising interviews, sharing their personal experience or that of their political family. "Passionate about politics, bulimic about information, pugnacious and uncompromising interviewer, demanding and visionary media director, Jean-Pierre Elkabbach has left his mark on an entire generation," former President Nicolas Sarkozy said on platform X.

"A fellow traveler of the Fifth Republic, Jean-Pierre Elkabbach has marked the media history of our country. His mythical exchanges with Georges Marchais will remain engraved. I appreciated, in turn, his interviews, always respectful, "greeted the national secretary of the Communist Party (PCF) Fabien Roussel.

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An "outstanding observer of our national political life"

He was an "outstanding observer of our national political life" who "believed all his life in the strength of public engagement," said Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. For his part, the president of the National Rally (RN) Jordan Bardella also insisted on the dimension of Jean-Pierre Elkabbach in modern politics. "He had questioned all the heads of state since Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and brought our democratic debate to life: Jean-Pierre Elkabbach is more than half a century of political journalism, and memorable interviews," he wrote.