French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned what he called “unacceptable and stupid comments” by foreign leaders about recent protests in France, after US President Donald Trump blamed immigration for the unrest.
Speaking to reporters in Doha on Wednesday, Macron accused foreign leaders facing elections of exploiting the protests for political gain.
“When I see leaders campaigning in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic … they are campaigning at our expense,” he said, without naming Trump.
Trump said at a rally in Kansas on Tuesday that immigration, rather than grievances over education, was behind the unrest.
“It’s not about education. It’s about immigration,” he claimed.
The demonstrations began as a student movement calling for improvements to the education system before trade unions and other groups joined to protest the high cost of living.
Macron vows to prevent further unrest
Macron said France would take all lawful measures to prevent violence during further protests planned for Saturday, citing curfews and restrictions already introduced on gatherings after the unrest.
“Those who want to cause disorder in city centres next Saturday will be prevented from doing so,” he said.
He said a state of emergency was not currently necessary, arguing that existing laws gave authorities sufficient powers, while leaving open the possibility of introducing one if circumstances warranted it.
Warning over AI-generated images
Macron also denounced what he described as “foreign manipulation of information” following the unrest, saying artificial intelligence had been used to fabricate images of events that had not occurred.
“We have seen AI-generated images showing scenes that never happened in France,” he said.
“Some people have claimed that we were invaded by hordes of migrants and Islamists, which is completely false.”
