A poor choice of words: 4 times Emmanuel Macron shocked France in 2023
Despite his suave image, French President Emmanuel Macron is not immune to a verbal blunder. Here is a selection of throwaway phrases that drew him criticism over the past year.
Since first winning the presidency in 2017, Emmanuel Macron has earned a reputation for his use of arrogant, condescending and out-of-touch language.
Who could forget the time he expressed his wish to emmerder ("piss off") those who hadn't didn't want to get vaccinated against Covid-19; the times he has referred to his own countrymen as Gaulois réfractaires ("Gauls who are resistant to change"), fainéants ("lazy people") and cyniques ("cynics"); or when he said protestors should go to work instead of trying to foutre le bordel ("fuck up the brothel").
READ MORE: A history of French presidential swearing
There is little sign that the French President is changing his ways. Here are four of his most divisive utterings of the past 12 months.
- Who could have predicted the climate crisis?
Admittedly, this is a slightly paraphrased version of the New Year's Eve address that Macron sent to the nation last year. But in the popular imagination, it was enough to earn him derision.
The actual words were as follows:
Qui aurait pu prédire la vague d’inflation, ainsi déclenchée [par la guerre en Ukraine] ? Ou la crise climatique aux effets spectaculaires encore cet été dans notre pays ? - "Who could have predicted the wave of inflation, also triggered [by the war in Ukraine] ? Or the climate crisis which had a spectacular impact in our country over the Summer?"
The comment angered environmentalists who note that the IPCC has been warning about the impact of a warming world since the 1990s; accuse Macron's government of failing to act quickly enough on climate change; and say he has underdelivered on an early promise to "make the planet great again".
- A process of de-civilisation
Emmanuel Macron said the government should travailler en profondeur pour contrer ce processus de décivilisation ("work deeply to counter this process of de-civilisation"). His comments came amid rising concern about attacks on elected officials and public-sector employees like teachers and nurses.
In the past he has also spoken about the dangers ensauvagement ("descent into savagery") and the need to reciviliser ("re-civilise") France.
READ MORE: France passes contentious immigration bill despite Macron party mutiny
Critics on the left accused him of borrowing this language of the far-right, who often use such terms to decry immigration and non-white, non-Christian communities.
- Take a walk to find a job
The French President has a track record of scepticism when it comes to struggling job-seekers.
Si vous voulez travailler, il n'y a qu'à traverser la rue ("if you want to work, all you need to do is cross the street") he famously told an unemployed gardener back in 2018.
When confronted by the angry mother of a job-seeker during a visit to Marseille in June, he responded: je fais le tour du Vieux-Port ce soir avec vous, je suis sûr qu'il y a 10 offres d'emploi ("I will take a walk around the Old Port with you this evening, I am sure that there will be 10 job offers").
Old habits die hard.
- Depardieu makes France proud
Gérard Depardieu, the French actor who has faced allegations of rape and sexual assault, "makes France proud", according to Emmanuel Macron.
"I am a big admirer of Gérard Depardieu. He is a genius of his art-form," he said.
These comments came during a televised interview earlier this month, during which the President also denounced a perceived "man-hunt" against the actor and cast doubt on the claims made in a recent documentary that exposed his sexist attitudes.
Macron's position clashes with that of his Culture Minister, Rima Abdul Malak, who said that the actor had "brought shame on France" and has called for an procedure to be launched to strip Depardieu of his légion d'honneur.
READ MORE: The famous faces stripped of France's highest honour
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Since first winning the presidency in 2017, Emmanuel Macron has earned a reputation for his use of arrogant, condescending and out-of-touch language.
Who could forget the time he expressed his wish to emmerder ("piss off") those who hadn't didn't want to get vaccinated against Covid-19; the times he has referred to his own countrymen as Gaulois réfractaires ("Gauls who are resistant to change"), fainéants ("lazy people") and cyniques ("cynics"); or when he said protestors should go to work instead of trying to foutre le bordel ("fuck up the brothel").
READ MORE: A history of French presidential swearing
There is little sign that the French President is changing his ways. Here are four of his most divisive utterings of the past 12 months.
- Who could have predicted the climate crisis?
Admittedly, this is a slightly paraphrased version of the New Year's Eve address that Macron sent to the nation last year. But in the popular imagination, it was enough to earn him derision.
The actual words were as follows:
Qui aurait pu prédire la vague d’inflation, ainsi déclenchée [par la guerre en Ukraine] ? Ou la crise climatique aux effets spectaculaires encore cet été dans notre pays ? - "Who could have predicted the wave of inflation, also triggered [by the war in Ukraine] ? Or the climate crisis which had a spectacular impact in our country over the Summer?"
The comment angered environmentalists who note that the IPCC has been warning about the impact of a warming world since the 1990s; accuse Macron's government of failing to act quickly enough on climate change; and say he has underdelivered on an early promise to "make the planet great again".
- A process of de-civilisation
Emmanuel Macron said the government should travailler en profondeur pour contrer ce processus de décivilisation ("work deeply to counter this process of de-civilisation"). His comments came amid rising concern about attacks on elected officials and public-sector employees like teachers and nurses.
In the past he has also spoken about the dangers ensauvagement ("descent into savagery") and the need to reciviliser ("re-civilise") France.
READ MORE: France passes contentious immigration bill despite Macron party mutiny
Critics on the left accused him of borrowing this language of the far-right, who often use such terms to decry immigration and non-white, non-Christian communities.
- Take a walk to find a job
The French President has a track record of scepticism when it comes to struggling job-seekers.
Si vous voulez travailler, il n'y a qu'à traverser la rue ("if you want to work, all you need to do is cross the street") he famously told an unemployed gardener back in 2018.
When confronted by the angry mother of a job-seeker during a visit to Marseille in June, he responded: je fais le tour du Vieux-Port ce soir avec vous, je suis sûr qu'il y a 10 offres d'emploi ("I will take a walk around the Old Port with you this evening, I am sure that there will be 10 job offers").
Old habits die hard.
- Depardieu makes France proud
Gérard Depardieu, the French actor who has faced allegations of rape and sexual assault, "makes France proud", according to Emmanuel Macron.
"I am a big admirer of Gérard Depardieu. He is a genius of his art-form," he said.
These comments came during a televised interview earlier this month, during which the President also denounced a perceived "man-hunt" against the actor and cast doubt on the claims made in a recent documentary that exposed his sexist attitudes.
Macron's position clashes with that of his Culture Minister, Rima Abdul Malak, who said that the actor had "brought shame on France" and has called for an procedure to be launched to strip Depardieu of his légion d'honneur.
READ MORE: The famous faces stripped of France's highest honour
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