French President Emmanuel Macron has accused foreign leaders, including US President Donald Trump, of making "absurd" remarks regarding the recent violent protests in France.
Speaking to journalists in Doha during his visit to Qatar on Wednesday, Macron didn't explicitly name individuals initially, but stated that information had been manipulated following the violence last Saturday, leading foreign leaders and others to make unacceptable and foolish comments. When asked specifically if Donald Trump's remarks were included among them, Macron replied, "He is among the others."
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had described the French protests as an aggression by "radical Islamists." Meanwhile, President Trump, while campaigning for his Republican Party in the midterm elections, blamed immigrants, "jihadists," and communists for the unrest in France.
Addressing reporters in Doha, Macron said, "Leaders engaged in election campaigns, whether in this region or across the Atlantic, are spreading narratives that certain groups clearly intend to push." He accused these leaders of using France for their own political campaigning, adding that artificial intelligence-generated images were being circulated to depict scenes that never actually occurred in France. Some have claimed that a massive wave of immigrants and Islamists has flooded into France—a claim he dismissed as entirely false.
In anticipation of further unrest, police announced a ban on protests in several areas of Paris, effective from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM.
