Uproar as Macron pledge to ’piss off’ unvaccinated

The government on Wednesday defended President Emmanuel Macron’s use of a coarse insult in a stepped-up campaign against France’s unvaccinated, after the phrase drew condemnation from the opposition and mixed reactions from voters.

Parliament suspended debate on a COVID-19 bill as opposition lawmakers demanded explanations from Macron, who earlier said he wanted to “piss off” unvaccinated people by making their lives so complicated they would end up getting jabbed.

“A president cannot say such things,” Christian Jacob, chair of the conservative Les Republicans party, told parliament as it discussed a bill to make it mandatory for people to show proof of vaccination to enter many enclosed public spaces.

But government spokesman Gabriel Attal said it stood by Macron’s comment to Le Parisien newspaper, published late on Tuesday.

“Who is pissing off who today?”, Attal said, quoting health workers struggling to cope or businesses hurt by the pandemic. “It’s those who refuse the vaccine.”

With a presidential election due in April in which he is expected to run, Macron may have calculated that enough people are now vaccinated - and upset with remaining anti-vaxxers - for his comment to go down well with voters.
“He’s right,” said 89-year-old Paris pensioner Jean, who’s had his COVID-19 booster and a flu shot too. “Those who are against the vaccine should understand the dangers, and they should get vaccinated.”

But others agreed with lawmaker Jacob that Macron’s use of the slang term “emmerder” - from “merde” (shit) - was unacceptable.
PARIS, Jan 5 (Reuters) –