Matt Bush, FISM News
There are many strategies being used to convince people to be vaccinated against COVID, but French President Emmanuel Macron may have developed the most unique and inappropriately phrased strategy to date. The French leader stated yesterday that he plans to annoy and hassle people until they get the vaccine.
In an interview with Le Perisien, Macron said he would not “throw [the unvaccinated] in prison” or “vaccinate them by force.” He then added, “I am not for bothering the French. I rant all day at the administration when it blocks them. Well, there, the unvaccinated, I really want to hassle them. And so, we will continue to do it, until the end.”
Macron used the French word “emmerder” in his statement, which, in reality, has a more vulgar meaning than “annoy” but essentially means the same thing. The remarks, compared to past verbiage used by Macron, were shocking to many in the French media and to the French population in general, but seem to be part of a larger push by the French government to institute harsher COVID restrictions.
According to CNBC, his comments coincided with parliamentary discussions over “COVID passes.” These passes would be simple documents stating whether or not a person has been vaccinated and would be required to attend public events.
The bill under discussion would also prevent unvaccinated people from entering many public spaces including most forms of public transportation. It was thought that the bill would be passed earlier this week, but the vote was postponed due to numerous death threats received by some lawmakers.
Macron’s comments come just three months prior to France’s Presidential elections. The French president is known as a “political gambler” and this tendency has been on display throughout the global pandemic. With many political leaders struggling to deal with the effects of the virus, Macron has gone all-in with the vaccine and his desire to see vaccine passports used.
Macron’s response was calculated as about 73% of the French population is fully vaccinated with another 34% of the population having received a third dose. Macron, while not yet having made an official announcement, is expected to run again in April and believes that his stance on the vaccine will help him win a second mandate since becoming the youngest leader in French history in 2017.
By focusing on the vaccine and the virus, Macron also takes the focus off of issues like immigration and the proliferation of Islam which, according to the New York Times, “have dominated the political race so far and that are advantageous to his strongest rivals, on the right and far right.”
His political rivals, with the election just months away, spoke out against Macron’s interview and vaccine stance calling Macron’s words “unworthy and irresponsible” and accusing the President of “playing with fire.” Marine Le Pen tweeted, “This vulgarity and this violence of the President of the Republic prove that he never considered himself the president of all French people.”