A month later, behind the scenes. In an interview given to Parisian, on January 4, 2022, Emmanuel Macron declared that he wanted “fuck the unvaccinated“. A little phrase that has made a lot of talk, often controversial and sometimes taken up by the opponents of the Head of State returning the favor.
That day, thehe Head of State answered a question from a reader of the Parisian emphasizing that the non-vaccinated of Covid-19 “occupy 85% of intensive care units“, resulting in a postponement of operations. “Almost all people, more than 90%, joined“to vaccination and”it is a very small minority that is refractory“, he explains. “This one, how do we reduce it? We reduce it, sorry to say, like that, by boring it even more. Me, I’m not for pissing off the French. I rail all day against the administration when they block them, emphasizes Emmanuel Macron. Well there, the non-vaccinated, I really want to piss them off.”
On franceinfo, Le editorial director of ParisianJean-Michel Salvator, revealed behind the scenes of what some in the opposition described as “punworthy and irresponsible speech“.
At the microphone of Célyne Baÿt-Darcourt, he recalls the post-interview: “I said to myself: how will it be? Because obviously, when you are facing the readers, you cannot withdraw. The rule in the written press is that we do the interview and then we send the transcription with a politician or with a union representative or a boss, before validation. On have him reread the interview once it has been transcribed. And then, we accept that there may be a few small changes, it being understood that proofreading is not rewriting”, he specifies.
And to entrust: “There, Emmanuel Macron went so far that obviously he couldn’t change that word. Especially since it had been pronounced several times in front of readers who are necessarily very attentive. I waited with some curiosity for the return of the Elysée but they didn’t want to change anything…”
“I have the feeling that this sentence was not premeditated. Macron wanted to pay for the antivax, it was obvious, but perhaps not with these words.”
Jean-Michel Salvatorat franceinfo
“I think he went beyond what he meant to say, he got carried away. Et all in all, they thought about it and said to themselves ‘never mind, we’ll see’. And we saw!“, concludes the press boss.