French President Macron Says He Wants to Harangue Unvaxxed Citizens: ‘I Really Want to Piss Them Off’
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French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday he wanted to “piss off” unvaccinated citizens of his country in an effort to pressure them into getting the shot.
“I really want to piss them off, and we’ll carry on doing this to the end,” Macron said in remarks to Le Parisien. “I’m not going to put them in prison. I’m not going to vaccinate them by force. So we need to tell them, from Jan. 15, you will no longer be able to go to the restaurant. You will no longer be able to go for a coffee, you will no longer be able to go to the theatre. You will no longer be able to go to the cinema.” (Translation according to The New York Times.)
France’s Parliament is considering legislation that would would prevent citizens from obtaining a “health pass” allowing them to enter public spaces — such as restaurants — with negative Covid-19 tests alone. Instead, they would need to provide proof of vaccination. The proposal follows the country’s Saturday announcement that even children aged 6-11 would be required to wear face masks in public going forward.
Macron’s comments come a few months before the country’s presidential election in April, when voters will decide whether to grant him a second term in office. Marine Le Pen, his top conservative opponent in the election, condemned his comments on Tuesday.
“Even if one doesn’t share their choice, they have broken none of our country’s laws,” she said to reporters. “He is continuing his policy of division, of pitting the French against one another.”
“The insults toward [unvaccinated] demonstrate that Emmanuel Macron will always go further in his contempt,” she added in a message on Twitter (translation provided by Twitter). “Emmanuel Macron will never change, it’s your vote that will change things. I will give the French back their freedoms.”
Les insultes envers les Français #nonvaccinés démontrent qu’Emmanuel Macron ira toujours plus loin dans son mépris et ses mesures liberticides.
Emmanuel Macron ne changera jamais, c’est votre vote qui changera les choses. Je rendrai aux Français leurs libertés. pic.twitter.com/5vLiYK0Hdv
— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) January 5, 2022
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