(Paris) A traditional song shortly after his speech… Emmanuel Macron was filmed Monday evening singing in the middle of the street in the company of passers-by, a surprising scene as the French head of state tries to get out of the crisis linked to the reform of the retreats, which dented its popularity.
The video was released by an organization which, according to the daily Releasewould have links with the extreme right, but the French president did not know the identity of the other singers, according to his entourage.
The scene seems surreal to the point that many Internet users imagine a montage or a “deepfake”.
Monday evening, shortly after his first speech after the promulgation of the highly contested pension reform, Emmanuel Macron sings The shelterby Edmond Duplan, a traditional song from the Pyrenees region (south-west of France), in the middle of the street, not far from the Montparnasse tower.
“After his speech, the President of the Republic took a moment with his wife. They were stopped by a group of young people singing […] He then joined them for a Pyrenean song that he loves and knows, ”responded Tuesday the entourage of the head of state, requested by AFP.
“He could not know at that time the background of each person with whom he spoke,” insisted the same source.
A first video showing the scene was published shortly after midnight on the “Project Canto” Facebook page, the showcase of an eponymous organization and singing application, with the caption: “There is only the mafia and Project Canto to blackmail a head of state”.
The association defines itself on its site as a defender of heritage, saving popular songs in digital format.
However, a daily survey Release published in 2022 pinpointed the association, arguing that it had been founded and led by far-right activists, and that the application listed, among other things, nationalist songs or songs associated with the IIIe Reich.
“Political singing is part of the history of singing, it is as such that it is listed. Some are related to the extreme right, others to the extreme left […] our choice is simply to list all the popular songs”, then replied the association to Release.
In another video appearing to show the beginning of the scene, relayed on Tuesday by a journalist from Current values, we see the Head of State apostrophized. “Do you want to come with us to sing? asks one of the people.
The scene cuts, then we see Emmanuel Macron asking “how do you know this song? », before a person suggests to sing The shelter.
“Come on, make me a verse of the Refuge », Answers the president, who had already sung it during a trip to the Hautes-Pyrénées in 2022.