• For several months, deputies have been publishing on TikTok and other social networks staggered montages of their interventions in the National Assembly or in the media.
  • These videos, often viral on social networks, tend to modify the political "codes" within the hemicycle and during televised debates.
  • Their detractors denounce a culture of "buzz and clash" and videos with dishonest editing.

"Choose the blue pill and everything stops [...] Choose the red pill and you stay in Wonderland. We go down with the white rabbit to the bottom of the abyss." In a video published in March on TikTok, the rebellious deputy David Guiraud takes up the cult replica of Morpheus to Neo in The Matrix. His editing mixes excerpts from the film with images by Elisabeth Borne and Olivier Dussopt. The objective: to underline that the government has the choice to withdraw its pension reform. For several months, deputies have been multiplying this type of offbeat montage, most often repeating their punchlines within the National Assembly or in the media. These videos, viral on social networks, tend to change political "codes" and influence debates, much to the chagrin of their critics.

"We try to add humor, sarcasm"

As is often the case in digital innovation, the rebels are pioneers. As early as 2017, Jean-Luc Mélenchon asked for access to the live video stream of the hemicycle to be able to "bring out the debates of the National Assembly". Today, the images are easily retrievable by MEPs. "It's simple, we connect to the Assembly's website, we indicate the sequence we want to recover, and within minutes, an email is sent to us with the HD images. All that remains is to have fun editing, tchak tchak, "smiles Antoine Léaument, LFI deputy of Essonne.

According to this former head of digital communication of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, "it is really TikTok that has revolutionized the communication on this side, with one-minute videos in vertical format, then YouTube, Instagram, etc. everyone else lined up. We started to make montages a little "boom boom" with the same language, the same grammar, around 2021, before the last presidential election. The elected representative of Essonne, with 107,000 TikTok subscribers, regularly publishes extracts of his muscular passages in session or committee.

A collaborator dedicated to digital communication

Proof of the importance given to this strategy, Antoine Léaument and David Guiraud (257,000 subscribers) have in their team of parliamentary collaborators a person dedicated to this digital communication. It adds filter, music, sound effects, and references to pop culture. "We try to put a little humor, sarcasm, with zooms on faces, people disappearing in their seats... ", explains David Guiraud.

"During a question to Darmanin in the Assembly, I put a good valve in his head, so we cut right at that time, with a jerky editing, a slow motion on his face, and we put the passage of 20 seconds on TikTok," details the elected representative of Roubaix. He adds: "I also put the whole speech in another post, because I think both can work." His videos regularly make several hundred thousand views on this social network popular with the youngest, not always interested in classic politics.


"We turn the Assembly into a clowning studio"

To better stick to the codes of social networks, the rebels modify their way of speaking. Ugo Bernalicis recently said to concentrate on "not screaming at the microphone" when there is hubbub in the hemicycle. The elected representative of the North wishes at all costs to avoid that the sound of his voice then "saturates" in the videos. "I also work on the rhythm of my sentences and prepare my hooks to capture the interest, confirms David Guiraud. Fifteen years ago, covers were mainly in the written press, now it's oral, it pushes to be vocal performance." When he took the microphone at the Assembly, Antoine Léaument also thought about his future content. "It has to be immediately understandable for someone who hasn't followed anything. So we rest the terms of the debate, which may seem strange to some colleagues when we are in the middle of a long session on the same subject... ».

@david_guiraud

Blue pill or red pill? #fyp #pourtoi #davidguiraud #melenchon #macron #politique #clash #assembleenationale #manifestation #greve

♬ original sound - David Guiraud

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Of course, if they are at the forefront, the rebels are not the only ones to post their interventions on TikTok. Some elected representatives of the majority, or of the National Rally are also starting to get into it. The 15 million monthly active users, in France, of the Chinese social network, quickly forget the controversies on the risks of surveillance or the opacity of its algorithm.

"I didn't know two months ago, but during the retreats, an intervention in which I mentioned my father made 3 million views... Young people came to see me on a motorway stop: "hold we saw you on TikTok", so we thought it could be interesting to be there, "says Thomas Ménagé, RN deputy of Loiret, which has only a handful of videos for 13,000 subscribers. "After that, it takes time and resources. The rebels are very good because they are in the clash and the provocative. But what they gain by talking to their fan base, they lose credibility."

"Engine, it's running"

Their opponents blame LFI for seeking buzz. "Some elected officials no longer make interventions to advance the debate, but for their personal communication. They spend a crazy time there! I can't count the number of times François Ruffin makes a second take, with the same words, to improve his future video. The Assembly was transformed into a clowning studio. Engine, it runs, action! " laments Erwan Balanant. The MoDem deputy of Finistère also denounces biased montages during televised confrontations. "They're going to extract a piece of a sentence to hijack an opponent's point, and that's a real problem for me," he says. A Renaissance MP confides his mistrust when he has to confront some rebels in debate. "If we find ourselves facing Guiraud, we will have a dishonest montage with slow motion, a nuclear explosion and a comment like: look at this macronist is humiliated! So now we don't let him speak, and the debates are rotten."

"If the buzz or the clash allow to advance substantive arguments, I do not see why it would be dirty," sweeps David Guiraud, who denies any manipulation. "Show politics has existed since the dawn of time. Plato's Gorgias is already a battle, but with other codes. There are funny moments in politics, it's not forbidden to use them." A strategy that pays off to bring young people back to the polls? In the last parliamentary elections, about 70% of 18-24 year olds did not go to vote.

  • Politics
  • Elections
  • TikTok
  • Pension reform 2023
  • La France Insoumise (LFI)
  • Jean-Luc Mélenchon
  • National Assembly
  • Social Media