Integrity Score 2097
No Records Found
No Records Found
No Records Found
For months, France has seen large protests against vaccination mandate and there has been violence too on the country's streets. According to the French government, over 5 million people refuse to get vaccinated. (https://www.euronews.com/2021/07/27/critics-say-covid-19-vaccine-passes-violate-their-rights-europe-s-courts-may-not-agree)
The protests erupted after the French government passed the law making vaccination necessary to enter certain public areas. With positive cases rising across the country in yet another wave, President Emmanuel Macron is angry against the unvaccinated, and he hasn't held back his words in an interview. "I really want to piss them off, and we'll carry on doing this - to the end," he told Le Parisien newspaper. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59873833)
With the presidential elections looming in around three months, Macron has been under tremendous pressure to control the spread of the virus, but that has not happened. But he has angered many French citizens with his outburst.
At a time when the French government is trying to amend the law turning the health pass" into a "vaccine pass" which would mean that unvaccinated would not be able to access public places even with a negative test, his comments have come under fire in the parliament. The session had to be suspended after members angrily protested in the house. (https://www.euronews.com/2022/01/04/france-breaks-another-covid-19-record-with-over-271-000-cases-in-24-hours)
One member of the house, Christian Jacob, and head of the right-wing Republicans party said that it was unbecoming of a French head of state to say what Macron said. "I cannot support a bill whose only goal is to piss off the French," he declared. (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/world/macron-france-life-miserable-unvaccinated.html?)
Even French Twitter accounts erupted in anger against Macron's comments. But there were defendants of Macron too, who said that the unvaccinated were responsible for increasing number of positive cases and overburdening of the hospitals.
It is too early to say that his comments on the unvaccinated will influence the elections, but Macron has certainly pissed off many people in his country.
Read more:
France's Macron sparks outrage as he vows to annoy the unvaccinated:
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/05/macron-french-president-wants-to-annoy-the-unvaccinated-.html