French President Francois Hollande faced controversy Wednesday after French satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné revealed the president’s coiffeure, or hairdresser, has earned a monthly salary of $10,000 since Hollande took office in 2012.
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“You can reproach me on anything you like, but not on that”, said Hollande, a Socialist who won the presidency in 2012 by running on a platform of being “Monsieur Normal” and a champion of the poor.
He said he was not personally responsible for organizing his own hair styling, and that “we used to use external contractors until now, and I preferred that it was handled from here”.
Many of his critics have slammed the amount of public money being spent on grooming the president’s mane, particularly when somewhere around 60 euros is considered average for a posh man’s haircut in Paris.
The barber’s monthly paycheck also has to stick in the craw of French workers, coming on a day when Hollande was defending his government’s divisive labor law reforms, which have triggered crippling strikes across the country for weeks.
Hollande spoke after presiding over the traditional Bastille Day parade Thursday with thousands of members of the military marching in meticulous formation, fighting machines rumbling down the Champs-Elysees and fighter jets overhead.
French media calculated that Hollande’s monthly hair spending is almost four times that of an average French worker’s salary. If polls are to be believed, this could be Hollande’s last Bastille Day as France’s leader.
China staunchly supports the French government to defend its national security, and stands ready to work with France to deepen their cooperation in combating terrorism, so as to safeguard peace and security of the two countries and the world at large.
“Doesn’t everyone have their hair done?” said spokesman Stephane Le Foll, adding that the barber is present in France and on trips overseas. “He is always there”.
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Twitter fans made fun of it all with altered photographs and videos, showing Hollande with rock-and-roll or punk haircuts, and in various other guises as the Queen of England, former Paris Saint-Germain soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and the president’s ex-partner Valerie Trierweiler.
