France won’t be fooled by Macron’s radical reinvention

A couple of hours before Emmanuel Macron addressed France on Sunday night I received a meme on WhatsApp from a French friend. It was a game card for ‘Macron’s Aperitif Bingo’, the rules for which were simple: swigs of a drink of your choice would have to be downed every time the president said a certain word or phrase during his latest declaration about his ‘war’ on coronavirus. ‘War’ incidentally was two swigs, while ‘shortage of masks’ was three and ‘sacrifices’ was four. I imagine that by the end of the president’s speech quite a few players were somewhat unsteady on their feet.

One suspects that Macron would not have been amused to learn that while he was making his solemn address to the nation, many of his ‘chers compatriotes’ were guzzling at his expense. How long ago it feels since he strode regally into the Élysée with a vow to restore respect and dignity to the presidency.