The President of the Republic, affirms Tuesday, January 4, in an interview with the newspaper The Parisian, to have “I really want to piss off the unvaccinated“. An unusual rhetoric, in the mouth of a Head of State. Hence this question, which everyone is now asking: should a President say that? Basically, in terms of crisis management health, is this statement shocking? Answer: No. In reality, Emmanuel Macron is only repeating a position assumed from the beginning. “You have understood, vaccination is not immediately compulsory for everyone, declared the President of the Republic on July 12 when he announced the introduction of the health pass. But we are going to extend the health pass as much as possible to encourage as many of you as possible to get vaccinated. ”
The message is the same: the health pass does not come from a health logic, it is nothing more than a political instrument making it possible to put pressure on citizens so that they agree to be vaccinated. Form, on the other hand, obviously has nothing to do with it. By assuming such a vulgar and aggressive register, the President of the Republic shows a manifest desire to shock.
In the first place, it is difficult not to see it as an electoral calculation. Today, in France, a very large majority of voters are vaccinated. By this provocation, Emmanuel Macron tries to present himself as their protector, while encouraging his opponents, Eric Zemmour, Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the lead, to position himself as the defenders of the small minority of the unvaccinated. On paper, it’s pretty neat. In addition, there is undoubtedly, also, a desire to reposition its image.
Emmanuel Macron voluntarily adopts the lexical field of everyday life: “piss off” of course, but also “take a cannon”, “go to the restaurant or the cinema”. In terms of communication, this is part of what is called “true speaking”, that is to say the desire to use a natural and relaxed language, in order to try to appear as authentic and close to the voters.
One can cast doubts on the scope of this type of language. On the one hand, because voters are not fooled, they see the ropes. On the other hand, because here, Emmanuel Macron is not only familiar: he is vulgar, which raises the question of the dignity of the office. Finally, because there is also the problem of consistency. “There are words that can hurt and I think it’s never good, and it’s even unacceptable. Respect is part of political life. And I think you can get things done without hurting people . And that’s what I won’t do again, affirms Emmanuel Macron at the end of December, on TF1, when we talk to him about his shocking little sentences.
“We do nothing to move, if we are not steeped in an infinite respect for each.”
Emmanuel Macronend of December, on TF1
In less than a month, Emmanuel Macron will therefore have promised one thing, and done the opposite: not sure that this is the best way to appear as authentic. Admittedly, this controversy may seem anecdotal when France is faced with the fifth wave of Covid-19. Especially for the word “piss off”. But precisely, the essence of this declaration is elsewhere. Emmanuel Macron tells us “I am very jealous” piss off the unvaccinated. “I want to”. He positions himself in the field of desire, of the personal drive to which he chooses to let go against some of the French. This vocabulary is not that of a president. It is that of a sovereign. However, in France, the only sovereign is the people. Emmanuel Macron does not govern the French. He governs France on behalf of the French. He does not indulge his desires: he makes decisions in the general interest.