By: Steve Dellar | 08-07-2018 | News
Photo credit: Money Control

France - Scandals Sink President Macron’s Popularity To New Low

When former French President François Hollande announced at the end of 2016 that he, as the first ever sitting head of state in France to do so, would not be seeking a second term, most Parisians struck a sigh of relief. As Hollande was at that time already the most disliked head of state in the nation's recent history. But the extent to which French people disliked surprised even his political opponents on the right.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Benalla Affair is not about Alexandre Benalla. It is about the brash, self-confident manner with which Emmanuel Macron has blasted through his first year in office: <a href="https://t.co/HQS0NgnHFl">https://t.co/HQS0NgnHFl</a> <a href="https://t.co/5m8Jost4IC">pic.twitter.com/5m8Jost4IC</a></p>&mdash; The New Yorker (@NewYorker) <a href="https://twitter.com/NewYorker/status/1026319927995781121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Current President Macron’s popularity has not fallen to those levels just yet, but he is clearly slipping in the polls. According to explanations by the general public, there are three main reasons why Mr Macron’s popularity has plummeted to its lowest level since his election in May 2017:

<b>The Benalla affair</b>

A former security aide close to President Macron was caught on camera violently manhandling protesters during May Day demonstrations in Paris.

Related coverage: <a href="https://thegoldwater.com/news/31787-France-Scandal-As-President-Macron-s-Security-Is-Filmed-Beating-Protesters-Video#31813 ">Macron’s security is filmed beating protesters - video</a>.

Mr Macron not only waited a few days before assuming responsibility for the scandal, he afterwards accused the media and his political rivals of blowing the affair out of proportion.

<b>Lavish spending</b>

Mr Macron’s wife Brigitte has been lavishly spending to decorate the Elysée Palace in Paris according to her taste.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">‘Radical’ centrism proving immensely popular I see <a href="https://t.co/cWxmgUFbXV">https://t.co/cWxmgUFbXV</a></p>&mdash; Seán Duffy (@seantduffy) <a href="https://twitter.com/seantduffy/status/1025662840798101505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Given that his predecessor Mr Hollande only had mistresses, this was not a problem for him, but also a reason, according to Ms Brigitte Macron’s entourage, that the palace urgently needed some ‘refreshing.’

Related coverage: <a href="https://thegoldwater.com/news/28839-France-Macron-Attacks-Crazy-Amount-Spent-On-Welfare-Then-Buys-50k-Dinner-Plates">Macron criticizes welfare spending, then wife buys $50k dinner plates</a>.

Reports of $50,000 kitchen utensils are not well received when Mr Macron’s government tries to reform labor laws and everyone is told they should ‘tighten their belts.’

<b>Speed limits</b>

Lastly, ever since June of this year, speed limitations on French national highways (which are free) have dropped from 90 kilometers per hour to 80 kilometers per hour, leading to a whopping half a million French people having been fined with speeding tickets in a month.

Of course the French could be driving on the ‘autoroutes’ where you are allowed to drive a maximum speed of 130 kilometers per hour but those are only available to anyone willing to pay ‘péage’ or toll. the online anger over this latest measure, claiming to create a ‘society for the rich only’ has been met with great fury.

These three combined mean that Mr Macron faces another fall of discontent when he returns from vacation.

Twitter: #Tuesdaythoughts #KAG #QAnon #MAGA #StephenMiller #WilburRoss

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Thoughts on the above story? Comment below!
2 Comment/s
kerry No. 33323 2018-08-07 : 13:15

The cost of dinner set was 500,000 euros not 50,000 (according to French newspaper Le Canard Enchaine)

Steve Dellar No. 33325 2018-08-07 : 13:21

Very true, but as also noted in my article about that dinner set (see related coverage), the company admitted that they had sold it to the Macrons for 50,000 whereas Le Canard would have been charged for 500,000.

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