On the sidelines of the ocean summit being held for a few days in Nice on the French Riviera, the French president saw fit to launch a vibrant crusade for the climate and the environment, condemning in scandalous terms those French people who are concerned about immigration and crime—a speech definitely out of touch with the concerns of the majority of French people.
On Saturday, June 7th, Macron sought to revive the spirit of his “Make the planet great again” appeal from 2017, when he wanted to stand up to Trump, who had announced his intention to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.
The French president cited French public opinion on the “abandonment” of the environmental struggle. He was very upset by the vote by MPs to abandon the Low Emission Zones that his teams are trying to impose on France against the will of the people. He also criticized the latest government decisions to suspend a range of ecological transition measures in an effort to rebalance the state budget. “I don’t want the government and Parliament to give in to the easy options of the moment,” he said angrily, pointing the finger at “those who would like to make us forget the fight for the climate.”
The president concluded his impassioned plea for environmental action with a moralizing condemnation of the French people, whom he accused of neglecting ecology in favour of other priorities that he considers secondary—immigration and crime.
Macron accused certain citizens of wanting to “brainwash people about the invasion of the country and certain insignificant news.” In other words, he believes that too much is being made of the ravages of immigration and the explosion of crime in France.
The president’s words were very poorly received at a time when a new tragedy is shaking French public opinion: the brutal stabbing of 17-year-old Benoît, killed by a 16-year-old of Bosnian origin in Dax in the south-west of the country, on the sidelines of PSG’s victory in the Champions League.
On June 6th, the day before Macron’s speech, the father of Benoît, who should have been celebrating his 18th birthday that day, gave a speech in front of a crowd of 600 people that went viral, in which he paid tribute to his son and expressed his anger at the state of the country.
“In France, we take in refugees who are given shelter and food, and then they kill our children,” he exclaimed, his voice breaking with sobs. The father called for change in the country. “This is France today. I hope it will change one day because this can’t go on, it has to stop. Benoît was supposed to celebrate his 18th birthday today with his friends. He was looking forward to celebrating, and then some scum came and took his life.”
The president’s response to this murder saw Macron dismiss this legitimate mourning and reject this human tragedy—one of many that have made headlines in recent weeks—as “faits divers,” a highly derogatory French term referring to minor local news items typically placed at the end of a newspaper.
According to political scientist Arnaud Benedetti, author of a column in Le Journal du Dimanche, the episode reveals the essence of Macronism today: “a mixture of contempt for the people and political impotence.” Political impotence on environmental issues, contempt for the people on immigration.