Left’s Darling French President Macron Tanking in Polls
Macron’s ratings down 50 percent since taking office three months ago
While the Liberal media has been busy trashing the Trump presidency, President Emmanuel Macron’s popularity in France has been in a free fall. Just three months into the presidency, Macron’s poll numbers have hit a historic low, plummeting 50 percent since he took office in May. France’s Ifop polling agency writes, “Apart from Jacques Chirac in July 1995, a newly elected president has never seen his popularity rate falling as quickly during the summer after the election.” As the Washington Examiner correctly pointed out, “Trump is more popular than French favourite Macron.”
“The thing about Emmanuel Macron is that, in the end, everyone gives way to the charm,” wrote the BBC in the run-up to the French election. “The guy could seduce an office chair,” claimed the broadcaster, quoting some ‘anonymous source’ — perhaps an office chair. As it, however, turns out, that “irresistible charm”, as BBC like to put it, isn’t working on the French public anymore.
The newspaper Irish Independent reports President Macron’s diving poll numbers:
The polls by Ifop, Harris Interactive, YouGov and Elabe showed between 36 and 54% of respondents with positive views of Mr Macron’s presidency, a decline from previous gauges of public opinion that also had shown his approval ratings down since he won 66% of the vote in the May election.
His declining approval is striking given that Mr Macron was being credited two months ago with giving France a boost of much-needed confidence after years of security fears and economic stagnation.
Increasingly, he instead is portrayed as power-hungry and inexperienced.The French media have started calling Mr Macron Jupiter, a reference to the mythological king of the Roman gods and what is perceived as the president’s superior attitude after he upended France’s political landscape and shot from relative obscurity to the nation’s top post at age 39.
The thing is, Macron has been busy using his ‘charms’ elsewhere. To have any meaningful relevance within the EU, Macron needs the approval of Germany’s all-powerful Chancellor Angela Merkel. Macron has embarked on a sweeping austerity program based on the German model.
This first got him into a bitter standoff with the French army. The country’s military chief, General Pierre De Villiers, resigned over the president’s deep budget cuts after a very public altercation. After infuriating Napoleon’s Grande Armée, Macron went after old-age pensioners and the working class with his reform package.
The real issue here isn’t the political or economic necessity behind Macron’s reform agenda. Macron’s electoral victory wasn’t secured on the basis of his vision for France, but solely to keep Front National leader Le Pen from winning the election.
The panicked European elite from the left and right of the establishment, still recoiling from the Brexit result and Trump’s victory, joined forces to put their man in office. Media painted a doomsday scenario in case Nationalist Le Pen were to win the election. Le Pen’s win would be a fascist takeover and an economic disaster, we were told. At the height of this fear campaign, CNBC claimed, “Le Pen victory could be five times as dangerous as Greece’s financial meltdown.”
Macron is right in cutting down the pensions and stripping off the welfare state. What else can he do? For no country can have a welfare state and an unregulated mass migration at the same time. He has to pick one of them, and as any liberal can tell you, it’s ‘racist’ to build border fences or to clamp down on illegal immigration. That doesn’t leave Macron with much of a choice.
With Macron’s slipping popularity, however, the Liberal European establishment has a real problem at hand. If Macron fails to deliver, he will simply be warming the proverbial chair for Madame le Président, Marine Le Pen.
Financial Times video: Macron’s popularity plummets
[Cover image via YouTube]
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Comments
What is wrong with the left, and what is it with them and politicians who can “seduce an office chair”, or “have a crease up their leg” or whatever other ignorant sexual innuendo they seem to equate with political leadership?
If the polls are actually viewed, the press analysis is a little confusing.
Depending upon the most recent polls, Macron’s popularity runs between 36% and 54% approval, depending upon the poll. This is simply a ridiculous approval range. On the other hand, as drop from 62% [as polled not percentage of votes taken], at the time of the election, to 54% now, can be easily laid at the feet of the resignation of the French Army Chief of Staff over proposed cuts to the military budget. That is less than 10% and still places him above 50%.
I really do not see a catastrophic trend here.
Macron’s problem – France’s problem, really – is that France has become effectively ungovernable by democratic methods. The problems are too intractible, the only possible solutions are too unpopular, and the populace is too bitterly divided for anyone to possibly put together a consistent majority and be able to do the things needed to do to salvage the dire situation they are in.
Macron has made probably the only moves he could have made so far; but as long as France continues to be Germany’s junior partner in the EU, he is going to continue to be Merkel’s puppet. And no puppet is ever going to earn any respect from his own people.
De Gaulle was a total jerk most of the time and did a lot of stupid, self-defeating things – but at least no frenchmen ever doubted that De Gaulle was his own man, and that he took orders from no one.
Macron is a glorified office manager, living forever under the thumb of his masters in the EU, and desperately seeking their approval. It’s France’s fault that their leader has been put in this situation.
They could have helped themselves out of their EU/over-migration problem, but France pulled a French-move and voted for Macron over Le Pen. They screwed themselves over in typical French style.
Maybe if people would vote with their minds rather than their hearts or other parts, effective leaders could be elected worldwide.
Has Germany learned its Merkel lesson yet on unfettered immigration?
Nations across the globe have their own cultural identity. It’s not in anyone’s self interest to allow others to radically transform your culture. Sadly, France isn’t what it used to be. Neither is Sweden or Germany.
However, Syria seems to be what it was 20 years ago. Coming to a country near you soon
Eurabia + Sharia.
but at least Syria spoke French.
https://www.quora.com/Is-French-widely-spoken-in-Syria-and-Lebanon-today
As Obama “the boyfriend” before him, it’s Macron “the boy toy” after him.
Is the problem CAIR?
Catastrophic Anthropogenic Immigration Reform targeting native people forced by social justice adventures for capital and control, and to cover-up the collateral damage from Obama et al’s elective wars?
Le Pen was the disruptive force France needed but they kicked the can down the road rather than face the hard facts of muslim immigration. So what that she is a socialist, so is the average french man.