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'This is not America': France's Macron laments violence by pro-Trump supporters in US

AFP/The Local France
AFP/The Local France - [email protected]
'This is not America': France's Macron laments violence by pro-Trump supporters in US
French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the insurrection in the United States, where supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol in Washington on Wednesday.

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"We will not give in to the violence of a few who want to question" democracy, Macron said.

In a video posted on his official Twitter account, the president added: "What happened today in Washington is not American."

 

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also condemned "a serious attack on democracy"

"The violence against American institutions are a serious attack on democracy. I condemn it," Le Drian tweeted.

"The will and the votes of the American people must be respected."

 

'Strategy of chaos'

The chaos unleashed on the US Capitol by Donald Trump's supporters dominated newspaper headlines in France on Thursday.

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"Trump: a strategy of chaos" was the front page of French daily Liberation, reinforcing the point in its inside pages with the title "Trump sets fire to Washington."

 

"Donald Trump's assault on American democracy became concrete as well as symbolic on Wednesday, when supporters of his, worked up into a white-hot rage by his speech, managed to break into the Capitol," the article read.

'Narcissism'

In Le Figaro, columnist Philippe Gelie reflected that "Donald Trump could have come out on top as a strong "president of the people" with a contested, but not negligible, record.

Instead of that, his narcissism got the better of his dignity; he has manhandled institutions, trampled on democracy, divided his camp and thrown his presidency in a ditch."

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Anonymous 2021/01/15 19:47
I'm not so sure they should come the high and mighty with all the rioting that has gone on in France for a long time. Why should politicians think they have the right to comment when they can't control extremists in their own countries. It's just populism. And no I'm not a Trump supporter- just sick of all the hypocrisy.

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