Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is making his way to the front of the pack, but not in the political sense that he might have hoped for.
During Sunday's huge unity rally in Paris, as 1.5 million people honored the victims of last week's deadly attacks, Sarkozy caught some ridicule for strong-arming his way to the front line and sandwiching himself between world leaders.
So, while Americans were busy focusing on why President Barack Obama did not take part in the rally, the French had other fish to fry -- namely, Sarkozy, whom some criticized for using the nation's tragedy as a photo opportunity.
[BLOG] Where is Obama? And where isn’t Sarkozy? http://t.co/pbBhcYqoK5 #JeSuisNico by @sophiepilgrim pic.twitter.com/NJW86jTrcn— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) January 14, 2015
Photos from the rally show Sarkozy standing between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in a lineup reserved for the political elite.
The former leader was determined to get to the front of the march, according to France 24, which described his initial positioning in the back of the pack:
The real question from the march was where wasn’t Nicolas Sarkozy. After hovering on the steps of the Elysée Palace alongside Hollande for some long minutes after their photo opportunity, the former French president tried in vain to station himself at the front of the march before being shooed back by security, then snook forward... He was two steps from the president at every photo opportunity, and resorted to standing on his tip toes when someone of greater importance got between him and the cameras.
Some found Sarkozy's publicity stunt cringeworthy. The hashtag #JeSuisNico quickly spread following the march, offering some much-needed laughter in light of the tragedy.
#JeSuisNico http://t.co/sNSkXMLUoS pic.twitter.com/0jtUaXt2OM— Steph ✏ (@marst76) January 12, 2015
L'art de l'incruste, phénomène historique. (via @thomas_lenvers) #JeSuisNico pic.twitter.com/Nf5mT4Kopt— Laszlo P. (@Shuua) January 12, 2015
#JesuisNico, ça a fait ma journée. pic.twitter.com/gi6NygjbvI— Benoît Mathieu (@benmathieu) January 12, 2015
#JeSuisNico even became a Tumblr account, hosting dozens of images of the former president making a "Where's Waldo" appearance in iconic images.
Sarkozy lost a re-election bid in 2012 to left-wing challenger François Hollande.