Melenchon „invented political stand-up. He‘s become a showman,“ said former Socialist Party colleague Julien Dray. „This style keeps him from being too harsh. He‘s in teaching mode, the old professor giving lessons about the world and how to change it.“

Melenchon also has an internet edge, boasting more than a million followers on Twitter and his own YouTube channel — a way to circumvent the traditional media, which he accuses of bias.