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| French President Brushes Aside Questions Over Secret Affair | French President Brushes Aside Questions Over Secret Affair |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| PARIS — President François Hollande of France, facing one of the most delicate balancing acts of his political career, politely but firmly brushed aside questions about his personal life on Tuesday at a news conference, saying it was not the proper time or place to address reports of an affair with a film actress that surfaced last week. | |
| After devoting the first 20 minutes of an annual presidential news conference, packed with 500 journalists, largely to his plan for reviving the anemic French economy and France’s rightful place in the world, the first question, asked by Alain Barluet, the head of the Presidential Press Association, was whether Valérie Trierweiler, his companion, was still the first lady. She has been hospitalized since Friday after a glossy tabloid magazine, Closer, published an article and photographs about Mr. Hollande’s liaison with the actress, Julie Gayet. | |
| “Everyone in his private life can go through difficult periods, these are difficult moments,” Mr. Hollande responded. “But I have one principle: Private matters should be dealt with privately.” | “Everyone in his private life can go through difficult periods, these are difficult moments,” Mr. Hollande responded. “But I have one principle: Private matters should be dealt with privately.” |
| He added, “This is not the place not the time, to do it,” but that he would answer the question about who was France’s first lady before a planned trip to Washington in February. | He added, “This is not the place not the time, to do it,” but that he would answer the question about who was France’s first lady before a planned trip to Washington in February. |
| Mr. Hollande, who has some of the lowest approval ratings of a French leader, focused his prepared remarks on an array of economic proposals that he said would spur growth and return France to its pre-eminence as one of the strongest countries in Europe. He also touched on foreign policy and a scattering of other topics, including the environment and the right to die. | Mr. Hollande, who has some of the lowest approval ratings of a French leader, focused his prepared remarks on an array of economic proposals that he said would spur growth and return France to its pre-eminence as one of the strongest countries in Europe. He also touched on foreign policy and a scattering of other topics, including the environment and the right to die. |
| He began the news conference by asserting, “We have to start a battle, start a new stage, a new phase.” | He began the news conference by asserting, “We have to start a battle, start a new stage, a new phase.” |
| But his personal life has been a preoccupation since Friday, when the Closer published what it said were photographs of Mr. Hollande being driven on a scooter to an assignation with Ms. Gayet. On the same day, Ms. Trierweiler was admitted to a hospital where her office said she planned to remain for a few days to recover from the shock of the disclosure. | But his personal life has been a preoccupation since Friday, when the Closer published what it said were photographs of Mr. Hollande being driven on a scooter to an assignation with Ms. Gayet. On the same day, Ms. Trierweiler was admitted to a hospital where her office said she planned to remain for a few days to recover from the shock of the disclosure. |
| While many French citizens say Mr. Hollande is entitled to privacy — as he himself has protested, without denying the magazine’s allegations — the episode has spilled into the political arena with questioning about the status of Ms. Trierweiler as France’s unmarried first lady and the potential distraction from the country’s deepening economic woes. | While many French citizens say Mr. Hollande is entitled to privacy — as he himself has protested, without denying the magazine’s allegations — the episode has spilled into the political arena with questioning about the status of Ms. Trierweiler as France’s unmarried first lady and the potential distraction from the country’s deepening economic woes. |
| Figures in Mr. Hollande’s Socialist Party and others had said the political nature of the Tuesday news conference — a fixture in the nation’s calendar at which leaders can normally expect undivided attention to their policy agendas — should be preserved. | Figures in Mr. Hollande’s Socialist Party and others had said the political nature of the Tuesday news conference — a fixture in the nation’s calendar at which leaders can normally expect undivided attention to their policy agendas — should be preserved. |
| “This is not a soap opera,” said Jean-Louis Borloo, leader of a centrist party. “It’s about time he seriously explained how he’s going to turn the country around.” | “This is not a soap opera,” said Jean-Louis Borloo, leader of a centrist party. “It’s about time he seriously explained how he’s going to turn the country around.” |
| Mr. Hollande had planned to devote the encounter with journalists to proposals to reduce unemployment and other economic measures, hoping to lift his fortunes as one of the least popular French presidents in decades. But, since Friday, the imbroglio surrounding his personal life has threatened to overshadow his efforts to reshape the policies of his first term. It has also drawn uncomfortable parallels with events in 2007 when questions began to be raised publicly about his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the singer Carla Bruni, whom Mr. Sarkozy later married. | Mr. Hollande had planned to devote the encounter with journalists to proposals to reduce unemployment and other economic measures, hoping to lift his fortunes as one of the least popular French presidents in decades. But, since Friday, the imbroglio surrounding his personal life has threatened to overshadow his efforts to reshape the policies of his first term. It has also drawn uncomfortable parallels with events in 2007 when questions began to be raised publicly about his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the singer Carla Bruni, whom Mr. Sarkozy later married. |
| Even earlier, President François Mitterrand was revealed to have maintained a secret family. | Even earlier, President François Mitterrand was revealed to have maintained a secret family. |
| David Assouline, a spokesman for the Socialist Party, said the news conference “must remain a major political event,” Reuters reported, signaling that Mr. Hollande was not going to address questions about his personal life. | David Assouline, a spokesman for the Socialist Party, said the news conference “must remain a major political event,” Reuters reported, signaling that Mr. Hollande was not going to address questions about his personal life. |
| Before he was elected in 2012, Mr. Hollande sought to position himself as a more “normal” person than his flamboyant predecessor. “Suddenly the French are discovering that he is like others, but in a less glorious manner, even a ridiculous manner,” Dominique Moïsi, a French political analyst, told The Associated Press. | Before he was elected in 2012, Mr. Hollande sought to position himself as a more “normal” person than his flamboyant predecessor. “Suddenly the French are discovering that he is like others, but in a less glorious manner, even a ridiculous manner,” Dominique Moïsi, a French political analyst, told The Associated Press. |