French President Nicolas Sarkozy looked particularly imposing during a televised speech last week—because he bused in specially vetted very short people to stand behind him, reports the Telegraph. The speech was held at a Faurecia motor technology plant in southern France. TV cameras caught buses bringing in 20 workers from various parts of the large factory compound. All admitted they were among the plant’s shortest employees.
Asked if she was chosen because she is even shorter than Sarkozy, who stands 5’ 5”, or 5’ 7” in the stacked heels he typically wears, one woman researcher replied: “There you have it.” The French, who didn’t mind when Sarkozy used a footstool to stand on par with Gordon Brown and Barack Obama at D-Day celebrations, are outraged this time. One political paper referred derisively to “Sarko Studio” and asked: “Have the French people been duped?” (More Nicolas Sarkozy stories.)