France’s President Emmanuel Macron has, in an apparent effort to stave off political advances by populist presidential rivals, suggested he is “against woke culture”.
Macron, who will once again be standing in the French presidential elections in April, has suggested that he is against the removal of historical statues and insisted that authorities in France should “not erase” or “rewrite” history.
The French president claimed that he “hates” it when individuals attempt to be anachronistic with history and that he is “against woke culture”, instead asserting that the French should “promote our heroes and highlight models to promote overseas” as well as in France.
The founder of La République En Marche! (The Republic on the Move), highlighted that in areas where leftist historical revisionists are “unbolting the statues” they fail to actually explain the historical nuances surrounding prominent figures in French history, Valeurs Actuelles reports.
Macron went on to insist that “France must come to terms with its past” and that he pledges to fight “until the last second to convince” those who wish to tear down historical statues to change their minds.
While still ahead of his rivals at 27 per cent in the polls, Macron has faced serious opposition from several populist right-wing presidential candidates. This may have inspired the globalist left-liberal — formerly the economy minister under President Francois Hollande of the Socialist Party — to make his anti-woke comments, in an effort to convince right-leaning voters that he will stand up for French history and values.
Marine Le Pen, the candidate for the National Rally party, is just 7 per cent behind Macron at 20 per cent in the polls, meaning she will most likely face Macron in a second round of voting on the 24th of April.
While he has begun to drop in the polls, populist right-wing candidate Éric Zemmour is tied at joint fourth at 10 per cent, with Le Pen the most likely candidate between her and Macron to hoover up supporters in a two-candidate showdown.
Centre-right Republican candidate Valérie Pécresse, who has previously described herself as “one-third Margaret Thatcher and two-thirds Angela Merkel”, is currently tied with Zemmour in the polls.
She has been projected to beat Macron 52-48 per cent in a run-off election were she to face him in the second round of voting — although reaching it could prove a tall order, given her current level of support ahead of the first round on April 10th.
It remains unclear whether voters will be convinced by Macron’s patriotic act. Polling that took place on Tuesday saw Macron drop by 3.5 per cent, despite the fact he has recently been more vocal in his claimed opposition to “wokeness”.
In 2021, Macron criticised the European Union for attempting to ban “Christmas” as well as gendered words like actor and actress. Nevertheless, he has been a longstanding supporter of the transgender lobby, and many voters are aware of this.
Macron also pledged to “piss off” the unvaccinated in January, which will have won him few favours with vaccine refuseniks and sceptics.
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