The feel-good factor Emmanuel Macron hoped would surge through France following their World Cup win has failed to materialise. The president milked the success for all it was worth but he has been swiftly brought down to earth with a bump. It was actually more of a thump, administered by his now ex-chief bodyguard Alexandre Benalla, who was caught on camera beating a protestor while dressed as a policeman during a May Day march earlier this year.
Since the story broke eight days ago, it has dominated the French media. Had the president’s people come clean the day the footage was first broadcast by Le Monde, the story wouldn’t have developed in the way that it has. Instead, the Élysée Palace tried to lie its way out of the mess until eventually Macron himself was forced to address the issue. “What happened on May 1 is terrible, serious, and for me it was a disappointment and a betrayal,” he said in an address to his MPs on Tuesday.
Macron’s initial silence on Benalla’s behaviour allowed his enemies to create their own narrative.
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