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The president said in an interview for the newspaper ‘Le Parisien’ that he wanted to “annoy” those who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19, at a time when his government seeks to implement a vaccination pass that would make the doses mandatory to be able to enter public places. His words have caused outrage among his opponents.
French President Emmanuel Macron lashed out at the unvaccinated in an interview published in the newspaper ‘Le Parisien’. The president affirmed that he wanted to “annoy” those who have not applied the doses against the coronavirus, in a cutting and sarcastic comment
“Those who are not vaccinated, I really want to anger them. And so, we will continue to do it, until the end. That is the strategy,” Macron said bluntly.
France last year implemented a health pass that requires people to show a negative PCR test or vaccination card in order to enter restaurants, cafes or bars. But the government wants it to be a vaccine passport, which implies that only the vaccinated will have the health pass and will be able to enter all places. The National Assembly is discussing the bill that, if approved, would take effect from January 15.
In addition, the government’s proposal comes at a time when the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has raised the daily infections of Covid-19 in France to points that had not been seen in the entire pandemic. On January 4 alone, the country confirmed 271,686 cases, its record number.
In the midst of this health situation, Macron added that he will not send the unvaccinated to jail and that he will not vaccinate them “by force.” “So we have to tell them, as of January 15, that they will no longer be able to go to the restaurant, they will not be able to have coffee, go to the theater, to the movies,” he said.
To a question from a reader of ‘Le Parisien’ who highlights that the unvaccinated “occupy 85% of resuscitations”, leading to a postponement of operations, Emmanuel Macron replied that this observation “is the best argument” for the government’s strategy and that, “in a democracy, the worst enemy is lies and stupidity.”
The president used the French expression ’emmerder’, which can be translated into Spanish as “annoy”. His critics were quick to attack him on social media. “A president shouldn’t say that,” snapped far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Twitter. And he added: “Emmanuel Macron is not worthy of his position.”
📹 Cette vulgarité et cette violence du Président de la République prouvent qu’il ne est jamais considered comme le président de all les Français.
C’est une faute politique mais aussi une faute morale lourde! #DirectAN pic.twitter.com/Y9i1pYjw0F
– Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) January 4, 2022
Macron has been criticized in the past for off-the-cuff comments that many French say seemed arrogant, cutting or dismissive, for which he has had to repent on several occasions.
Macron would again be a candidate for the Presidency of France
In the interview with ‘Le Parisien’, the first given by Macron in 2022, the president maintained that he intended to run for reelection, although he did not explicitly say that he would do so. “I would like to do it,” were exactly his words. The first presidential round in France will be in April.
With Reuters
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