FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron attends a ceremony at the Croix du Souvenir monument, Tuesday, June 18, 2024 on the Île de Sein, Brittany. Emmanuel Macron once appeared as a bold, young leader offering to revive France through radical pro-business, pro-European policies so that voters have “no reason anymore” to vote for the extremes.
He argued his aliance has not held a parliamentary majority since 2022, even while having the most seats. The situation forced him into political maneuvering to pass bills. Macron’s centrist political startup that he promoted then as “neither right- nor left-wing” crushed traditional rivals, the Socialist Party and the conservative Republicans.
Asked about a National Rally lawmaker who argued that dual nationals such as a French-Moroccan former minister shouldn’t be members of the government, Macron answered: “It says a lot about what’s at stake.”“Overt racism or antisemitism says something about a profound betrayal of what France is, of its values, of what our Republic is. And that’s something we have to fight with force, and we have to be outraged at,” Macron said. “Because it’s not about politics, it’s not just about a vote.
Yet his time in office has been marred by major turbulence, from the yellow vest protests against perceived social and economic injustice to the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and last year’s riots triggered by the