this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2025
684 points (98.9% liked)

World News

45415 readers
3867 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News [email protected]

Politics [email protected]

World Politics [email protected]


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 64 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Man, I know people dislike Macron, and I still think his handling of the Le Penn situation last year was a dramatic misplay, but I've always had a huge amount of respect for him. Maybe because I don't live in France (although I was almost accepted into a job there earlier this year!), but he seems like such a role model in terms of political leadership. He's been handling the Trump/Putin situation much better than most other world leaders, in my opinion

[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I think he demonstrates global leadership in a number of things, but leadership of France on a range of things including privacy is not good.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (3 children)

i approve at what you say, yet, i would add :
... it might be impossible to be a loved president of a so much divided country as today's France.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago

He is greatly responsible for the division.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Domestically, what has he done to be loved?

Easy to blame the country, but no one is entitled to be loved by default.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

OTOH, I don't think we've ever liked any of our presidents. Their approval ratings are so abysmal that they would horryfy US politicians (where 40% is low). Macron is quite bad, but is he actually worse than the rest? We might end up regretting him when LePen gets elected in a couple years.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Ehhh... I don't think you would say that if you were paying close attention with how he handled opposition the couple of last years.

For instance, he used special laws about 20 times to cripple any opositions when his party lost his majority to pass unpopular laws. They tried to make it illegal to film police and they pushed insane surveillance laws during the Olympic games that is most likely to stay. He refused to let the opposition name a prime minister even if the opposition won the legislative elections. He went against the clear will of the people regarding the age of retirement by forcing it with a special law (90% of workers were against it). Hell... he crippled public hospitals by removing beds during the Covid19 pandemic. He is a typical neo-liberal that mostly has the interest of his own social class. People really wanted him gone and he did everything in his power to stay. He's still there because people were scared of the far right. I'm skipping so many things because there are so much mess to report I can't actually remember it all of it on the top of my head.

The people are so pissed about him that there are talks about the 5th republic being a failure and needing to be changed for a 6th republic.

He has a good image on the geopolitical scene, but I would find another role model if I were you. I'm not French, but I can confidently say that he's a lying piece of shit and most people in France hate him.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Genuinely appreciate your and the other commenters' inputs, I really did only focus on his image outside of France. Thank you for all these examples!

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago

I'd like him as a foreign affairs minister, eu ambassador or somewhere in the EU governing body. I think he'll be great there.

As a president for France, he's definitively not and for so many reasons you qan't list them.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago

He is a very good diplomat... And a disappointing politic.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Man he is only making business. The current goal now is the rearming of Europe as huge and as fast as possible. Russia making peace can slowdown that. I don't say that he is wrong, but he is just a businessman (France is i think in the world top 3 of weapons selling). Also he fucked Frances democracy, and he kept the colonialism attitude of France in other continents.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 week ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

There's loads of issues with Macron, but I don't see how he's responsible for any of the above

The president doesn't legislate, and he doesn't command the police, he's the executive head of state.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In case you have missed it macron is the president of france since 2017

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I wasn't claiming that he hasn't been the president of France; I did, in fact, notice.

I said that's not what the president of France does.

It's like getting mad at the King of England for Canadian laws, that's just not his responsibility, even if he is head of state.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It’s like getting mad at the King of England for Canadian laws, that’s just not his responsibility, even if he is head of state.

Yea same thing, blaming the president of france for his government policies is like getting mad at the king of england for canadian laws...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

They're both the respective heads of state, and they're both not members of the legislative branches.

So yeah, in this context they are effectively the same.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

You're not getting it. Macron does in fact control the legislation.

Sure it's not what the president is supposed to do, there's a prime minister and speaker for that to decide what laws will be voted on in what calendar. Except when Macron forces his pick on both (and straight up ignores when a new national vote says the left wing opposition gets to name the prime minister), forces the voting calendar, forces passing his laws by skipping a vote he knows will fail, etc.

The 5th French Republic has laws like this that give the president some exceptional powers to get over the head of the parliament. And Macron uses those exceptional powers all the time.

So yes, Macron does do all the things you say the president doesn't do. And that's why people are mad at him.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Respect ≠ "role model"

Try again.