The president of France, Emmanuel Macronlost his temper this Thursday during his visit to the Mayotte archipelagohit by a cyclone, in the face of criticism from the inhabitants of his management.
Almost a week after the storm, lack of drinking water is pushing the residents of France’s poorest overseas territory, located in the Indian Ocean, to the limit.
“Seven days and you can’t give water to the population!” a man shouted at Macron, who had approached to talk to the citizens. “Don’t turn people against each other. If you do, we’re screwed.“Macron told the crowd in the Pamandzi neighborhood on Thursday night.
“Be happy to be in France. If it weren’t for France, you would be in a much more complicated situation, 10,000 times more in the shit. There is no other place in the Indian Ocean where people receive more help,” said the President of the French Republic.
As reported by the Reuters agency, Macron has often gotten into trouble with improvised comments in public that, according to him, are intended “tell things like they are”but which have often seemed insensitive or condescending to many French people and have contributed to his sharp decline in popularity during his seven years as president.
His reaction in Mayotte has earned him criticism from the opposition. “I don’t think the president will find the right words to console our compatriots from Mayotte, who with these types of expressions always have the feeling of be treated differently“said Sébastien Chenu, deputy of the far-right National Rally party (RN).
For his part, far-left deputy Eric Coquerel said that Macron’s comment was “completely unworthy.”