Protests - Part 60

Emmanuel Macron

In 2017, Emmanuel Macron was elected President of France.  Within hours, unions began protesting, fearing that Macron would take away workers' rights.  A large demonstration took place in Paris on Sept. 12, 2017 (above).

Is the guy holding the banner naked?

Yes, he is, wearing nothing but a guitar.  Here's a rear view of him.

The demonstrators were a mixed group ...

and he seems to be the only naked demonstrator, which did not discourage him.

Other marchers wore jackets and scarves, so it seems to have been a bit chilly out.

But that didn't faze our guy.  Here, with arm raised, he seems to be giving a speech.  The sign in the background "Je suis faineant" means "I am a do-nothing."  This is a response to Macron's denunciation of union workers as faineants, i.e. do-nothings or idlers.

Here our guy is singing and playing his guitar and posing for a photo.

More posing.

Call out the police!  There's a naked protester!  Actually, I think he's just performing in front of them.

While we're talking about Macron, we should mention the persistent rumors that he's gay (he's not; he's happily married).  During the 2017 election campaign, it was rumored that Macron (above left) had an affair with Mathieu Gallet (above right), then head of Radio France.  Gallet, who is gay, said it was a complete fiction, and they had only met three or four times.

In 2019, the press hounded Macron over the "Benalla affair."  Alexandre Benalla, who had been Macron's personal bodyguard, was caught on video beating a May Day protester.  It was found that Benalla had a diplomatic passport, and photos seemed to show an unusual closeness between Benalla (above left) and Macron (above right).

So, just how personal was Macron's personal bodyguard?  After a week of furious and speculative news coverage, Macron spoke to the press, saying, "Alexandre Benalla has never had the nuclear codes ... Alexandre Benalla has never been my lover."

The photo above has obviously been Photoshopped with the faces of Macron (bottom) and Benalla (top).  The heading says, "Thank you manu, thanks to my passports I can penetrate everywhere."

In August 2024, photos and a video appeared on Facebook showing Macron kissing a man on a boat (above right).  They were fake.  Fact-checkers verified that they were AI-generated from real Macron vacation photos (above left).

Macron has survived the rumors, and he is still President of France today.