“The unvaccinated, I really want to piss them off. So we will continue to do so. ” This statement by Emmanuel Macron in the columns of the Parisian, January 4, creates controversy. It also divides the French, a slight majority (53%) believing that the head of state was wrong to make these remarks, according to an exclusive CSA poll for CNEWS published on Wednesday.
In detail: 36% of those questioned believe that the president was “totally wrong” to express himself in this way, and 17% that he was “rather wrong”. Conversely, 1 in 2 French people (47%) agree with Emmanuel Macron.
Thus, 26% consider that he was “totally right” and 21% “rather right” to say that he “wants to piss off” the unvaccinated, who represent some 5.6 million French people. In other words: 8% of the population eligible for vaccination against Covid-19.
The words of the President of the Republic led the deputies to suspend the examination of the draft law on the vaccination pass. Prime Minister Jean Castex, aligned with the opinion of the Head of State, asked the National Assembly to “debate as quickly as possible”. But the interview with the president in Le Parisien continues to warm the spirits, including outside the benches of the Palais-Bourbon.
Young indignant
Another lesson from this CSA survey, a large majority (65%), 18-24 year olds consider that Emmanuel Macron was wrong to address the unvaccinated in this way. This proportion nonetheless decreases with age: among 35-49 year olds, only 53% take a stand against this declaration by the Head of State, and among those over 65, 42%.
Political proximity is also a determining variable. The supporters of the Republic in March are the only ones to support the president frankly: 3 out of 4 (75%) believe that he was right “to want to piss off” the unvaccinated. “It is a strategy assumed from the start,” said Marc Fesneau, Minister responsible for Relations with Parliament.
But the rest of the political spectrum is much more divided. A narrow majority, supporters of the Socialist Party (55%) and Europe Ecology the Greens (52%) disagree with Emmanuel Macron. Those of the Republicans are 58% to support it.
On the other hand, the opposition is clear among supporters of the Reconquest party. Like their leader Eric Zemmour, for whom the president’s words are “of an admitted cruelty, assumed”, they are 77% to stand up against Emmanuel Macron. Anger shared by supporters of France Insoumise (67% to believe that the president is wrong) and of the National Rally (67% also).
CSA survey conducted on January 5 on a nationally representative sample of 1,000 people aged 18 and over, based on the quota method.