Macron wants to "piss off" the non-vaccinated. Understand why
- Francisco Silva
- Jan 10, 2022
- 3 min read
“Les non-vaccinés, j'ai très envie de les emmerder”. That is the “strategy” of Emmanuel Macron revealed on an interview given to the newspaper Le Parisien. Macron seems to really want to “piss off” the non-vaccinated. The strong word emmerder has triggered a wave of reactions across France, and Europe – but beyond a clear message of the incumbent president’s stance on the issue, it could also be a brilliant play to ensure his victory in the upcoming presidential elections. But how so?
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On the 6th of January, Macron’s vaccine pass has made it through in the parliament with 214 votes in favour, 93 against and 27 abstentions – a major step taken to slow down the exponential spread of COVID-19 witnessed in France. If it passes through the Senate, this vaccine pass will replace the COVID-19 health pass, making a recent recovery from the illness and/or complete vaccination a requirement for entering cafés, theatres, restaurants, and other places in France.
This is not the first time we’re seeing a law of this kind being applied, but it is a crucial one in a country where daily cases of the virus have skyrocketed. At the time of writing, France hit 10 million total COVID cases, and on the 5th of January, a record 332 thousand cases were reported (with needed emphasis on the word “reported”), making it one of the countries in Europe who is struggling the most with COVID-19.
Macron made the headlines recently due to an interview he gave to the newspaper Le Parisien on the 4th of January. Between other topics, the non-vaccinated were discussed. Macron has said he does not want to “piss off the French people”, emphasising that the non-vaccinated are the ones he “really wants to piss off”. The comment was received with polarising opinions; some applauded the president’s stance while others were outraged with the president’s language.
Opposition leaders, from left to right, have condemned Macron’s wording that some considered “arrogant,” “rude,” “unworthy,” “irresponsible” and “premeditated". The reactions to the president’s statement were obviously similar among his political rivals. Marine Le Pen claims, “a president shouldn’t say that” and that Macron is “unworthy” for the role of president. Valérie Pécresse, candidate supported by The Republicans’ Party who has passed Le Pen in the polls recently, made an appeal to Macron to “accept them [the non-vaccinated]” and “bring them together” rather than insulting them, adding that it was not up for the president to “pick out the good and the bad French people”. On the left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon has called the comment “appalling” and said it was evidence that the vaccine pass is no more than a “collective punishment against individual freedom.”
With attacks from everywhere (even from some party colleagues), it seems Macron was put in a tough spot. But maybe not – maybe it was quite the opposite. A poll done by L’Express suggests only 53% of the population was “very or somewhat shocked” with the comments, which considering the most recent polls that show Macron with 25% of the vote intention, is not too bad. And while being shocked or not shocked does not necessarily require a negative or positive reaction on either side, data is leaning that way; the same polls show the vast majority of Emmanuel Macron supporters (around 80%) was not shocked with the president’s remark, while only roughly 43% of Marine Le Pen’s supporters and 30% of Mélenchon’s supporters were not shocked. This goes to show Macron didn’t lose much (yet) with the opposition’s backlash. But what does he have to win with it?
Long gone are the times of a vaccine-skeptical French majority. Over 90% of the French have been vaccinated, most of them willingly; tiredness from the pandemic could be a reason turning people to vaccination. By defending the vaccinated majority and triggering a wave of attacks from the opposition over the president’s wording and his so-called “strategy” for the non-vaccinated, Macron is forcing his opponents to side with the smaller portion of the French, and effectively splitting himself from the “right-wing" and appealing to the centre.
The prime-minister Jean Castex supported Macron’s move. “(…) The president can sometimes say things out loud that many, many people quietly think," he said. And he might not be wrong. The question is whether people will speak up when the elections come...and who they will speak up for.
Francisco Silva, 6th of January.
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