How Emmanuel Macron tries to counter the image of an impeded president

One trip, two atmospheres. Side A, this Thursday on the occasion of Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the Doubs, there is, near the Château de Joux where he came to mark the 175th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in France, pot concerts and their lot of placards. One – “Come down from your castle and come face the people” – scrolls on the news channels continuously.

Side B is looping too. It is obviously this that the Elysée seeks to make heard, before the many trips that the Head of State wants to continue until July 14 and this deadline of 100 days that he himself set to try to relaunch a mandate hampered by the fractures of the pension reform and the absence of an absolute majority.

“Small Debates”

Before the Château de Joux, Emmanuel Macron stopped in Dole, at the market, for an exercise he likes: a walkabout for point-blank exchanges. Way “small debates”, according to the image used last Sunday on France 3 by the Minister Delegate for Industry, Roland Lescure. But at the risk of increasing criticism of the hyper-presidency and the loneliness of an Emmanuel Macron forced to do everything himself.

As a result, discussions and interpellations, sometimes lively, on purchasing power, work that does not pay enough, taxes, the difficulty of accessing care, the h***les of the self-employed. In short, a concentrate of the anger and concerns of the country.

But it is an opportunity, on all subjects, to defend under the cameras and without opponent other than the French people he meets, his policy and the reforms past or to be undertaken. The Head of State drinks whey.

“And the big salaries of the big CEOs? », annoys a p***er-by. “It shocks everyone, it shocks me too,” replies a very comfortable Emmanuel Macron. He explains that those in the public sector are “limited” and those in the private sector “decided by the shareholders. “What can you do?” You tax them! “, he lets go, being careful not to say more. Work ? “I share with you the idea that he must pay better,” he insists, referring employers to their responsibilities.

communication operation

He repeats it over and over again, he wants to “convince” and hopes to do so via this type of exchange. Except that he is forced to silence these steps to avoid demonstrators and c***erolades. The French are also not fooled. They estimate at 73%, according to an Elabe poll published on Monday, that these trips “are only a communication operation”. Conversely, 26% consider it “courageous to go into direct contact with the population. »

It is above all for Emmanuel Macron to try to counter the image of an impeded, bunkered president, forced to travel Potemkin with many police forces, and to remobilize his base. All of this while betting on the progressive slowing down of the c***eroles. “Let the 1 p***er May, in three weeks, the c***eroles, we won’t talk about it anymore, ”tries to re***ure an adviser to the executive.

Like in the countryside

So of course, not all public outings can avoid marks of unpopularity. But faced with the risk of whistles and red cards which could for example be brandished this Saturday at the Stade de France during the final of the Coupe de France football, his relatives prefer to minimize. “It is a custom that the president is whistled whoever he is”, sweeps one of them.

“He’s in campaign mode. Never where awaits. He does not want to be locked up, ”defends those around him. It is also accompanied by its slogan of the presidential campaign, “With you”, that the Elysée has tweeted a video of its exchanges in Dole, with some bravos. Like the admission of a president seeking a way through his “100 days” to turn the page on a presidential campaign that was not really one and on the start of a mandate without an absolute majority so complicated, described by Ludovic Vigogne in his latest story (Editions Bouquins) of a talking “Les sans jours”.