“The far right’s messaging has been crushed by these Games and by the opening ceremony,” the center-left Parisian said. “Something incredibly positive is happening.”
Jaded Parisians have embraced the Olympics, with a joyful atmosphere spreading across the city.
The socialist leader, who has led the French capital since 2014, also used the interview to respond to her critics and anti-Parisian sentiment on the part of French people.
“There’s both admiration for this incredible city, which not many people understand, and at the same time orchestration of a hatred of Paris,” she said.
Critics have targeted Hidalgo’s push for anti-car initiatives and greener urban policy in the French capital. Also the city’s plan to clean up the Seine in time for Olympic water sports was met with ridicule and mockery.
The Seine cleanup has seen mixed results, with heavy rains affecting water quality. It was described as “marginally acceptable” at the most recent of three Olympic triathlon events held in the famed Parisian river.
Public swimming in the Seine — banned for a century — is scheduled to begin next summer.
