In early June 2026, Édouard Philippe, the mayor of Le Havre, was visiting a farm in the Dombes region of France.
As the politician, a central bloc candidate for the presidential election, was walking into a barn, the farm dog started to bark, according to the newspaper Le Progrès.
An unexpected interruption
"Sarko, be quiet!" shouted Gilbert Limandas, the farm owner's father. The remark made Édouard Philippe burst out laughing.
A history of rivalry
As the newspaper pointed out, the relationship between the two men has not always been straightforward. In 2017, the politician, who is a keen boxer, told the newspaper Le Monde that he almost came to blows with “Sarko” during the founding congress of the UMP party in 2002, after he stopped the latter from stealing the spotlight from Alain Juppé.