Tall people have no right to stand next to Sarkozy

If true, this is pretty funny: Before the President arrived at the Faurecia car parts factory in the Orne last Thursday, female workers were selected to appear behind Mr Sarkozy according to their height, RTBF claimed. After showing the President’s speech, in which he appears to be the tallest person in the crowd, RTBF interviewed ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
581235_090908_sarkozy2.jpg
581235_090908_sarkozy2.jpg
French President Nicolas Sarkozy (C), flanked by his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, leaves the official's stand during the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees on July 14, 2009 in Paris. The parade is held each year on July 14, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress in Paris by revolutionaries in 1789 and was the symbolic starting point of the movement that led to the first French republic. AFP PHOTO BERTRAND GUAY (Photo credit should read BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images)

If true, this is pretty funny:

Before the President arrived at the Faurecia car parts factory in the Orne last Thursday, female workers were selected to appear behind Mr Sarkozy according to their height, RTBF claimed. After showing the President’s speech, in which he appears to be the tallest person in the crowd, RTBF interviewed an unnamed factory worker. “I’m told you were picked because of your size,” says the reporter, Jean-Philippe Schaller. “Yes,” says the woman. “No one must be taller than the President,” Schaller says. “That’s right,” says the woman.

Local trades union officials have since told the news website Rue 89 that the height of workers allowed to stand close to the President had been part of advance negotiations between the factory and the Elysée. The Faurecia company has declined to comment.

Sarkozy’s sensitivity about his height is well-documented. Not that I’m questioning the president’s life choices, but this behavior is a little weird considering he married someone five inches taller than him. 

BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images

Joshua Keating is a former associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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