Macron reaches out to the left before the French presidential campaign

French President Emmanuel Macron has started working to rally the left to his side as he prepares for a bitter fight to keep his job in less than a year.

Over the past few days, Macron has appeared in a 30-minute game show with popular YouTubers clearly aimed at countering a sense of arrogance and aloofness that emerges in the polls. And he gave a long and extensive interview to a glossy magazine aimed at liberals, in an effort to reach those who are disappointed with his right-wing politics.

Taken together, these moves are the biggest sign yet that Macron has entered campaign mode after more than a year focused on the Covid crisis. They also acknowledge that his shift to the right has alienated the progressives he needs to rally around him to beat Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader likely to be his main rival in the April 2022 election. Macron plans to start a tour in France next month meet with voters, but has yet to officially announce his candidacy.

The monthly publication that aired the interview on Wednesday, Zadig, costs 19 euros ($ 23) per issue and primarily targets highly skilled left-wing readers. He says he seeks to “reconcile the country with itself”.

Over fifteen pages, Macron, from an upper-class family of doctors, describes his origins as modest and drops the names of eminent liberal figures. He professes his love for France, its language and its diversity – praising Marseille as well as the poor and ethnically diverse Seine-Saint-Denis suburb near Paris, saying all he was missing was “the sea”. Last year he named it a haven for radicals and Islamists.

Macron also praises the African diaspora and says no one should have to give up their identity to Feel at home in France – go against your own hard line Home Secretary Gerald Darmanin, who has criticized multiculturalism and doesn’t even want supermarkets to dedicate aisles to ethnic food or shops to sell ethnic clothes.

Still, the president is steadfast in his position that France should not be compared to the United States and its treatment of minorities because the two countries are very different. He reiterates his belief that the statues of controversial figures should not be removed and rather should be seen in their historical context.

Macron says that France is being dragged along by “fits of anger” and that he had foreseen the Protest movement of yellow vests “but not at this point”. He says people can’t make ends meet felt “Humiliated”, even if they do everything society expects of them.

The careful interview – Macron’s office usually asks to reread his exchanges, a common practice in France – is strewn with literary references and convoluted sentences. This is in stark contrast to Sunday’s playful appearance on Youtube in which, at one point, after losing a lap, the president jumps out of his chair and swears.

During the “anecdotes contest”, Macron tells influencers McFly and Carlito that Donald Trump called him on a secure line in 2018 to wish him a happy birthday, but the bad day. It turned out to be a great story. Macron also phoned football star Kylian Mbappe to ask the Paris Saint-Germain player to save another of his stories.

The stunt, which garnered over 10 million views and dominated political discussion for a long weekend, ended with Macron’s participation in a heavy metal concert by the band Ultra Vomit in the Elysee Gardens. . The appearance helps increase its popularity with young people – who may not vote much, but influence their parents.