He had long been criticized by the French people for his constant price hikes and forced allocation system, but now he had suddenly become a national hero. This extraordinary meeting was perfect.
So, Bernard Erno said very humbly: “Mr. Prime Minister, you are too kind. This is what I should do.”
The Prime Minister smiled and said, “The President is waiting to meet you at the Elysee Palace. We’ll have a group photo with the reporters later. After the photo, the reporters might conduct a brief interview with you. If you’re interested, you can simply answer questions from several major media outlets. If you’re not interested, that’s fine. You can wait until after your meeting with the President to be interviewed at the Elysee Palace.”
Bernard Elno rolled his eyes and asked quietly, “Excuse me, Prime Minister, are American media outlets like the Associated Press, United Press, and CNN here?”
“They came.” The Prime Minister nodded and smiled, “Given how eager they are to hear the news, how could they not come?”
“Okay, okay, that’s great.” Bernard Erno nodded with a smile and said, “Then, I’ll accept their interview later.”
“WOW!”
After the Prime Minister and Bernard Arnault shook hands cordially in front of the media cameras, the two approached the reporters. The Prime Minister smiled and said to the reporters present: “Mr. Bernard Arnault will be going to the Elysee Palace later to receive a call from His Excellency the President. However, I have just communicated with Mr. Bernard Arnault and confirmed that I can give the reporters present 10 minutes of my time for a brief interview. If you have any questions for Mr. Bernard Arnault, please raise your hand.”
All the reporters raised their hands high at that moment. They were passionate journalists themselves and certainly didn’t want to miss such an interview opportunity.
AFP reporter looked at Bernard Arnault with a confident look.
He felt that, as a new generation of French national heroes, Bernard Arnaud would surely choose to be interviewed by his own country’s media first. As France’s largest and oldest media outlet, AFP would undoubtedly lead the way and receive the first wave of coverage.
But what he didn’t expect was that Bernard Elno didn’t give him a chance at all, but instead turned his gaze directly to the CNN reporter.
He pointed at the CNN reporter and said, “Come on, let the CNN reporter ask first.”
The French reporter looked distressed and confused. He had no idea that Bernard Arno was already prepared to become an anti-American fighter and that from that moment on, he would begin his work.
The CNN reporter did not expect to be the first person called to ask questions. He was very happy and said, “Dear Mr. Bernard Elno, I would like to ask you if you think this attack was secretly orchestrated by some people with ulterior motives?”
“Provoke?” asked Bernard Erno, confused. “What do you mean, provoke?”
A CNN reporter quickly said, “As far as I know, the terrorists who attacked White Horse Island claimed to be Blackwater mercenaries, but I think Blackwater is a regular mercenary company and they definitely have nothing to do with terrorist attacks. So, I think this may be a setup to deliberately sow discord between the United States and France. What do you think?”
Bernard Elno sneered and asked him, “Where were you when that happened?”
Another person explained: “I am a CNN reporter based in Paris. I was in Paris when the incident occurred.”
Bernard Arno said disdainfully: “You were in Paris when the incident happened, but I was at the Cheval Blanc when it happened, right in front of the guns of those Blackwater terrorists. Now you say you think this might be a trap. How did you get so powerful? Your name is Sherlock Holmes?”