Macron slams ‘stupid comments’ from world leaders after Trump blames France unrest on migrants

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France’s President Emmanuel Macron has slammed what he called “stupid comments” from some foreign leaders over the protests sweeping the country , after his US counterpart Donald Trump claimed migrants were fueling the unrest.

“We’ve had people claiming that we were invaded by hordes of migrants and Islamists, which is completely false,” Macron said Wednesday while discussing the latest scenes of violence. “The fact is that all those speaking ill of our country right now are people who don’t love our country. And those people irritate me.”

On Monday, Trump claimed without evidence that France was being “conquered, looted and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists and communists who hate Christianity” and “the Western civilization itself.”

What started out in September as protests over the state of education and cost of living in the country has since spiraled into a nationwide violence and rioting, with more than 2,000 people arrested this past weekend alone.

French authorities have imposed localized curfews and promised a “massive” police presence for more protests expected this coming Saturday, as authorities come under pressure to quell the worst flare up of rioting in years.

Asked on Wednesday if he was aware of any evidence of foreign involvement in the turmoil, the French president said there is “no visible foreign interference in the events that took place.”

However, Macron continued, “there has been foreign manipulation of information, which has led to unacceptable and stupid comments from many people, including foreign leaders.”

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Alongside Trump, Vice President JD Vance has also suggested migrants were behind the unrest. “Western liberals imported the third world into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion,” he wrote on X Monday. “They ignored fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility.”

Trump referred approvingly to Vance’s comments in the Oval Office Tuesday, while claiming that concerns about education or costs were not fueling the protests.

“It’s not about education. It’s about immigration,” he said. “It’s about illegal people coming in who basically hate France. They hate the people. They hate everything.”

Gauthier Bedrignans/Hans Lucas/AFP/Getty Images

Rioting in France gives Trump a new talking point as he tries to stave off GOP midterm losses

In Europe too, Hungarian Prime ⁠Minister Peter Magyar has linked the violence to immigration policies, also without providing evidence. On Sunday, he posted on social media: “In the face of this senseless destruction and unjustified violence, perhaps it is now clear to everyone why Hungary advocates the strictest possible approach to migration.”

Macron did not mention any specific foreign leaders in his news briefing Wednesday, but he did accuse leaders in both Europe and “on the other side of the Atlantic” of amplifying misinformation.

“We want order, respect and progress for our country. But people mustn’t go around saying things that simply aren’t true,” he said.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed reporting.

Benoit Tessier/法新社/盖蒂图片社

法国总统马克龙抨击了一些外国领导人就席卷全国的抗议活动发表的“愚蠢言论”，此前美国总统特朗普声称移民正在煽动骚乱。

“有人声称我们遭到了大批移民和伊斯兰极端分子的入侵，这完全是无稽之谈，”马克龙周三在谈到最近发生的暴力事件时说道。“事实是，所有现在诋毁我们国家的人，都是不爱我们国家的人。这些人让我很恼火。”

周一，特朗​​普毫无证据地声称，法国正被“仇恨基督教和“西方文明本身”的移民、圣战分子和共产主义者征服、掠夺和烧毁”。

这场始于9月份、针对国家教育状况和生活成本的抗议活动，已经演变成全国范围内的暴力和骚乱，仅上周末就有超过2000人被捕。

法国当局已实施局部宵禁，并承诺将在本周六部署“大量”警力应对预计发生的更多抗议活动，当局正面临压力，以平息多年来最严重的骚乱。

周三，当被问及是否了解任何外国势力介入这场动乱的证据时，法国总统表示，“没有明显的外国势力干预所发生的事件”。

然而，马克龙继续说道：“信息遭到外国操纵，导致许多人，包括外国领导人，发表了令人无法接受的愚蠢言论。”

杰弗里·范德哈瑟尔特/法新社/盖蒂图片社

与特朗普一样，副总统万斯也暗示移民是骚乱的幕后黑手。他在周一发表于X网站上的文章中写道：“西方自由主义者以多元化和同情心的名义，将第三世界人口引入法国和其他国家。他们忽视了同化和兼容性等根本问题。”

周二，特朗普在椭圆形办公室对万斯的言论表示赞同，同时声称对教育或成本的担忧并非引发抗议的原因。

“这不是教育问题，而是移民问题，”他说。“是那些非法入境的人，他们基本上憎恨法国。他们憎恨法国人民，憎恨一切。”

Gauthier Bedrignans/Hans Lucas/法新社/Getty Images

法国骚乱为特朗普提供了一个新的谈资，他正试图阻止共和党在中期选举中失利。

在欧洲，匈牙利总理彼得·马扎尔也将暴力事件与移民政策联系起来，同样没有提供任何证据。周日，他在社交媒体上发帖称：“面对这种毫无意义的破坏和毫无道理的暴力，或许现在每个人都能明白，为什么匈牙利主张对移民采取最严格的措施。”

马克龙在周三的新闻发布会上没有提及任何具体的外国领导人，但他确实指责欧洲和“大西洋彼岸”的领导人散布虚假信息。

他说：“我们希望国家秩序井然、备受尊重、不断进步。但人们不应该到处散播不实之言。”

CNN的凯文·利普塔克对此报道亦有贡献。