"Alexandre Benalla never held the nuclear codes. Alexandre Benalla never lived in a 300-square-meter apartment....Alexandre Benalla was never my lover," the president said, addressing news reports and rumors about the allegedly favorable treatment given his aide.

"We shouldn't paralyze the country," said art gallery owner Franck Le Feuvre, who is among those who think the scandal is a waste of time. Benalla "is just a guy who was too zealous, and no one dared intervene so as not to offend the big boss."