Hollande refuses to comment on partner's controversial tweet

French President Francois Hollande refused Thursday to comment on a tweet by first lady Valerie Trierweiler in which she voiced support for a candidate challenging the French leader's ex-partner. "I will not comment here and on that subject," Hollande told a press conference during a visit to Italy focused on the eurozone crisis. Trierweiler's Twitter message on Tuesday stunned France, and especially the Socialist Party, as it was obvious the real target was Segolene Royal, the woman who shared Hollande's life for three decades and is the mother of their four children. Royal, who failed in 2007 to get herself elected president, is standing against Olivier Falorni, a Socialist dissident, for a parliamentary seat for the western town of La Rochelle. Hollande, who assumed the presidency last month, has publicly thrown his weight behind Royal, writing this week that she is "the only candidate of the presidential majority who can be assured of my support" in the constituency. The French press called Trierweiler's tweet "France's First Gaffe" and an "embarrassment" that threatened to damage the Socialists' chances in the second round of legislative elections on Sunday.