France Backs Macron's Vow to Make Unvaccinated People Miserable
Published Date: 1/5/2022
Source: Bloomberg Quicktake: Now
A French government spokesperson on Wednesday doubled down on President Emmanuel Macron's comments on vaccine refusers that provoked outcries in parliament and shrill protests from election rivals. Macron used the French word "emmerder," rooted in the French word for "crap" and meaning to rile or to bug, in an interview published by Le Parisien on Tuesday night. "The unvaccinated, I really want to bug them. And so we will continue doing so, to the end. That's the strategy," Le Parisien quoted the French leader as saying in a sit-down interview at the presidential Elysee Palace with a panel of its readers. In a briefing, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said Macron's words "seem to me well below the anger of a very large majority of French people faced with those opposed to this vaccine." Attal pointed to calls from some for the government to go further and deny the unvaccinated health care treatment, a move he said would not be "responsible". "But responsibility, it's also talking the necessary measures to protect all the French people and sometimes even to protect some French against themselves," he continued. Critics accused Macron of behavior unbecoming a president and of targeting the unvaccinated to win support from the 90% of French adults who are fully vaccinated. The explosive use of earthy language more commonly heard at the counter of French cafés immediately further complicated the already difficult passage in parliament of the government's planned new vaccine pass. It will exclude the non-vaccinated from places such as restaurants, cinemas, theaters, museums, and sports arenas. The pass will also be required on inter-regional trains and buses and domestic flights. Macron is facing reelection in April. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained: https://bit.ly/3iERrup Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake