Teddy Riner's candidacy continues to provoke reactions within the left. This Thursday, November 12, Raphaël Glucksmann distanced himself from the political stance claimed by the five-time Olympic champion, three days after his announcement of his candidacy for the 2027 presidential election. Interviewed on franceinfo, the Place Publique candidate first acknowledged the judoka's right to participate in the competition and explained that he wanted to wait for the presentation of his platform before commenting on his proposals. But he immediately challenged Riner's desire to transcend traditional political divides. For Raphaël Glucksmann, presenting himself as "neither right nor left" amounts to adopting a method already used during Emmanuel Macron's two terms, whose record he strongly criticizes.
The MEP believes this stance has contributed to blurring the political choices offered to voters. According to him, the last ten years have demonstrated the limitations of an approach that claims the opposition between right and left is outdated. He associates this method with "injustice and chaos" and instead argues for the necessity of clearly stating one's ideological orientations. "I think it's important to know where you stand politically in order to be able to accept democratic divisions," he explained. Without personally attacking Teddy Riner 's sporting career , Raphaël Glucksmann thus challenges one of the main arguments of his campaign: the idea that a figure outside of political parties could unite the French without being affiliated with an identifiable political family.
The new candidate is already facing criticism from several left-wing leaders
Raphaël Glucksmann has thus joined a debate that began on Monday with the judoka's initial proposals. François Ruffin had compared Teddy Riner to "Macron with a lot more muscle," believing his economic policies to be pro-business. Danièle Obono, for her part, summarized her analysis by stating that the champion was right-wing. Jean-Luc Mélenchon adopted a different stance on Wednesday, finding Riner's speech interesting while also placing him on the right. The leader of La France Insoumise mainly used the opportunity to make ironic comments about the candidacies of Gabriel Attal, Bruno Retailleau, and Édouard Philippe. These reactions demonstrate that Teddy Riner's stated political position is already being interpreted in very different ways within the political class.
The judoka, for his part, is maintaining his refusal to be labeled as a party candidate for the time being. In his campaign video, he advocated for an increase in net wages through tax cuts, better control of public spending, a possible capitalization component for pensions, and a restoration of the state's authority. These proposals allow his rivals to associate him with various centrist and right-wing factions, even though he claims to want to appeal to all French people. Raphaël Glucksmann asserts that he will wait to learn the details of his platform, particularly regarding public services, before making a substantive judgment on his candidacy.
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