Raphaël Glucksmann, the Socialist Party and Place Publique candidate for the French presidential election, explained his physical withdrawal from demonstrations during an interview on French television network TF1 on Monday.
Speaking with political journalist Élizabeth Martichoux on October 26, 2026, Glucksmann emphasised that the role of a politician is to propose a way out of a crisis. The interview aired during the network's daily morning programme, Bonjour ! La Matinale TF1.
The video segment, titled Face à Élizabeth Martichoux, ran for 11 minutes and 49 seconds and was published by the TF1info video desk at 8:20 a.m. In its summary of the broadcast, TF1info stated that the presidential contender set out the reasons why he had stepped back physically from street protests while defining how elected leaders should respond to national crises.
Reaction to the Trappes attack
Alongside the Monday morning interview, TF1info highlighted a related intervention by Glucksmann following an attack in Trappes. Addressing that incident, the candidate deplored what he described as an atmosphere of violence, racism and xenophobia in the country.
Trappes is a commune in the Yvelines department within the Île-de-France region, located in the western suburbs of Paris. TF1info listed Glucksmann's reaction to the Trappes attack as companion coverage to his appearance on the morning show.
Raphaël Glucksmann and the centre-left alliance
Glucksmann is a French essayist and politician who co-founded Place Publique in 2018 alongside activist Claire Nouvian and economist Thomas Porcher as a pro-European, centre-left political movement. He has served as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019, sitting with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group in Brussels and Strasbourg.
In both the 2019 and 2024 European Parliament elections in France, Glucksmann led joint electoral lists uniting Place Publique and the Socialist Party. Founded in 1969, the Socialist Party is one of France's historic centre-left governing parties, having previously held the French presidency under François Mitterrand and François Hollande.
Under the Constitution of the French Fifth Republic, the president is elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term through a two-round national ballot. Face à Élizabeth Martichoux serves as the flagship political interview slot on Bonjour ! La Matinale TF1, the morning broadcast run by France's largest private television network, TF1.
