In your article on “Emmanuel Macron’s charm offensive”, you explain that the French respect but do not like the president. Why this discrepancy?
SOPHIE PEDDER : I think there was never any question of love between the French people and Emmanuel Macron. He was admired in 2017. His energy, his youth, what he did to win the presidential election a year after founding En Marche aroused admiration and respect, but it was never an emotional relationship. .
This situation was exacerbated by the way Macron exercised power at the start of his mandate, that is to say power from afar. It is he himself, his conception of the presidency, which has reinforced this idea that he is not there to be loved but that he is there to do, to change, to reform France.
Since the “yellow vests”, he has tried to change this relationship and emphasize the connection with the people. This was the case with the big debate, with his tour of France last summer and with his electoral strategy – small meetings with people rather than large rallies. All of this aims to change the way the French look at