Macron’s hatred may determine elections in France

Everything but Macron.

So wrote a user in the “Autun en colère” (Autun the Angry) Facebook group linked to the protest movement in the Yellow Branches department in the city of Autun in eastern France.

It is not the only publication of its kind.

here and in the hundreds Other Facebook groups with links to the yellow vests are currently posting such messages in France.

In the small town of Autun of 13,600 inhabitants – as in many other places in France – calm reigns on the roof. But something is growing silently. A rage that resembles that of President Emmanuel Macron, will likely shake all of Europe on Sunday.

– Merit? he is?

Pierre-Henri Janin, 55 years old He points to the television, where Emmanuel Macron has just spoken in the television debate against Marine Le Pen.

– he is? Who married a 24-year-old drama teacher from a wealthy family? He, who can go to the best schools without any obstacles in the way? Who got a job in an investment bank before turning 30? Uh, he obviously got help from contacts!

We are sitting on a sofa in the home of Pierre-Henri Jeannine in Autun. The Chapley bottle is clogged. A bowl of tuna salad was served on the simple coffee table.

– Merit! Yes, yes, he could give it a try, says Pierre-Henri Jeannine with a grunt.

When Emmanuel Macron He was elected president in 2017, and one of his most important promises was to do France more meritocracy, where young people in immigrant-crowded suburbs and in the countryside would have an honest chance as long as they were educated and hardworking.

Macron could point to some progress, but he acknowledged there is still a long way to go before everyone gets the same chances in traditionally elite France.

Instead, he notes, the unemployment rate has fallen to seven percent, and that the economic recovery after the pandemic has been strong. Macron generally gets high marks from voters for crisis management, and in opinion polls Macron now leads with 55 percent of voter support, versus 45 percent for right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen.

Most of the residents In Paris, Macron is expected to win the election on Sunday. If nothing else, then because many left-wing voters are voting for him to stop Marine Le Pen.

But in Autun we meet another France.

France is where Marine Le Pen does not want to stop at all costs – but Emmanuel Macron.

– I have decided to vote for Marine Le Pen. Not because I like her so much. Admittedly, she toned down her program and became more confident as a debater. But for me, it is about wanting to get rid of Macron, says Pierre-Henri Jeannine.

I don’t think Le Pen will have that much power

His friend is 29 years old Jeremy Barbeau, nod.

– So I also intend to vote. Because I don’t think Le Pen will have much power. Her party likely won’t get its majority in the National Assembly, so it could do something positive for democracy if it delivers on the promise to make it easier to start referendums on citizens, he said.

Three years ago, Jeremy Barbeau and Pierre-Henri Jeannine were active in the yellow jackets. Pierre Henri owned a bookshop at the time, which was where the group met.

They were part of a movement with hundreds of thousands of grassroots people across the country – and for several months they had the support of the majority of French people.

But that was then. Now the yellow jackets are almost gone.

The bulletproof vests have been dismantled at Autun.

and Pierre-Henri Jeannine She was forced for various reasons to sell her library.

But the intense hatred for Macron remains.

– I hate that smile. That superior smile and contempt! says Pierre Henri and points back to the TV.

Macron is undoubtedly a polarizing politician. But he is popular with large sections of the middle class – as well as among working-class voters who feel confident about the future.

This belief in the future Important according to the opinion institute Ipsos. Those who don’t know it are likely to vote for Marine Le Pen (or leftist radical Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who was eliminated in the first round).

Macron’s supporters see him as the person who saved French democracy and laid the foundations for a new and stable center-right coalition that could eschew the radical populists of both the right and the left. It is also presented as a guarantor of France’s role in a strong European Union.

But at the same time, no French president in modern times has been so unpopular as Emmanuel Macron. Even Nicolas Sarkozy — who has been sentenced to prison for corruption — is not disgusted, according to a new book by veteran political journalists Nicolas Dominac and Maurice Zafran: “Macron, why all the hate?” (Macron, why all this?).

Many French people viewed Nicolas Sarkozy as the “president of the rich”. This is somewhat the case with Macron. But Nicolas Dominac says in an interview with French radio that he has also come to be seen as a “chief of contempt”.

He suffers from a severe lack of empathy

He’s referring to her Macron’s sometimes arrogant and condescending attitude toward ordinary voters – which some have interpreted as contempt. An often-cited example is when Macron urged an unemployed man to “cross the street” to find a job. Or when he declared that he wanted “the devil” with the unvaccinated French.

Games like this are not without support. But they provoke. Ahead of the election, 38 per cent of voters declared that voting for Macron was out of the question. A number that sooner or later risks causing problems for the president.

Pierre-Henri Jeannine has his own theory as to why Macron is so controversial.

He suffers from a severe lack of empathy. He cannot understand people who are going through hard times, with whom things did not go the way they are.

It’s a theory I’ve also heard from others at Autun.

According to the opinion institute Thus, Ipsos is the person with a strong belief in the future more inclined to vote for Emmanuel Macron in France – even if they belong to the working class. Those who don’t feel the same faith in the future vote for Marine Le Pen more often.

The former “yellow jackets” I met in Otton often had various financial concerns or personal problems. In the past, they rarely wanted to talk about “normal” politics. But now they say they will vote for Marine Le Pen, or in some cases not at all. Nobody is saying he is ready to vote for Macron.

Of course, this does not mean that Le Pen will win the election. The yellow jackets hated Macron for many years.

Who is Marine Le Pins The indictment is different from Macron. It is intended for people who are facing difficulties. And when she accuses Macron of being arrogant and condescending, it sounds in the ears of these people as if she is talking to them.

Macron’s criticism of Le Pen about her ties to Vladimir Putin’s Russia does not generate much interest in this group.

– But Le Pen’s immigration policy is good. She wants to close the borders, get benefits from immigrants and give us the French, says Marie Mellot, 39, who works part-time and earns about 10,000 crowns a month.

O’Reilly Barbot’s friend protests.

– I think the borders should be open to those who really need to escape. So I would never be able to vote for Le Pen, says O’Reilly, who was one of the most energetic yellow jackets we met in 2019.

She’s a former left-wing voter – only one Emmanuel Macron will need to rally on Sunday.

But in her case, that is out of the question.

Macron is very fake. I would never vote for him.

Here you can read more about the French elections.