BERLIN (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron, accused by critics
of being out of touch with ordinary people, denied in an interview with a
German magazine he was aloof, saying that he was merely trying to stamp out
cronyism between politicians
and the media.
The 39-year-old former banker was caught on video earlier this month
saying during a visit to a struggling company that workers protesting his
economic policies would do better to get a job in a nearby aluminum factory
battling to find employees.
That prompted the far-left and far-right, who have sought to cast Macron
as out of touch with the common man and a president for the rich, to say he had
shown “contempt”.
But Macron told Germany’s Der Spiegel: “I am not aloof. When I travel
through the country, when I visit a factory, my staff tell me after three hours
that I am ruining the schedule.”
He added: “When I am with French people, I am not aloof because I belong
to them.”
Macron said being surrounded by journalists was not akin with being close
to the people, adding: “A president should keep the media at arm’s length.”
He has said he planned a “Jupiterian” presidency - dignified and weighing
his pronouncements carefully - a departure from his often-mocked predecessor
Francois Hollande’s man-of-the-people style.
Macron said on Friday in a surprise move that he would give his first
long live TV interview on Sunday evening.
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