Emmanuel Macron is using the coronavirus to reboot his presidency
This week, Emmanuel Macron reinvented himself. In a televised address on the coronavirus epidemic, the man who began his presidency two years ago as a liberal Europeanist reappeared as a Charles de Gaulle-style nationalist. Both the future of France and future of Macron’s presidency rest on how well he negotiates this transformation.
The speech, watched by a record-breaking number of people — some 35 million viewers — was set at the Élysée Palace, against the spare backdrop of a gilded wall and French and European Union flags. Dressed in his habitual blue suit, blue tie and white shirt, Macron spoke for 20 minutes, explaining the precautionary measures the government had already taken and urging the French to obey them.… Seguir leyendo »