French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday (the 21st) that foreign leaders, including those across the Atlantic, are trying to exploit the tense social climate in France to advance their own political agendas. Protests against the rising cost of living have led to a wave of riots, looting, and vandalism across the country.
The United States President, Donald Trump, used violence to mobilize his political supporters, making unproven allegations that Muslim migrants were responsible for the unrest and urging Macron to “close your borders and take back control before it’s too late”.
Macron responded by saying that “there was foreign manipulation of information in the wake of the looting in Paris and in other French cities last weekend. And this led to comments as unacceptable as they were stupid, from many people, including foreign leaders,” he said.
Asked by a reporter if he was referring to Trump, Macron replied: “Among others”.
The French president added that there were “AI-generated images depicting scenes that never actually occurred in France. We had people claiming we were invaded by hordes of migrants and Islamists, which is completely false.”
France’s Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said his office could provide the involved countries with the necessary clarifications “to help them avoid spreading or amplifying false information and making unfounded claims on social media”.
Macron and Trump have long maintained a cordial relationship, but the American president often mocks the French leader in his public remarks.
“When I see leaders who are in the middle of election campaigns, whether in the region or across the Atlantic, who sometimes naively repeat AI-generated content or spread narratives that certain circles are clearly trying to promote about what happened in France, they are using our country for their own political campaigns,” Macron said.
The French leader traveled to Qatar in search of solutions to the energy crisis and to the rise in energy prices, the government said.
James Whitmore