Macron Says Foreign Leaders' Comments on French Unrest Are 'Stupid'

French President Emmanuel Macron has accused Donald Trump and other foreign leaders of making "stupid comments" about France's street unrest, saying they did so for political gain. Speaking on a visit to Qatar on Wednesday, October 21, Macron did not name anyone directly. The Guardian reported that he called the remarks as unacceptable as they are stupid. Asked whether he meant Trump, he replied, "Among others."

The unrest followed protests over the cost of living, which were largely peaceful at first. Over the weekend of October 18, demonstrations in cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Limoges turned into violence and looting. In Limoges, the town hall was set on fire and partly destroyed. The French government admitted it had "lost control" over the rioting that Saturday. Reporting from that day put the number of arrests across the country at 2,400, and Macron criticised what he called "unbridled violence."

Trump blamed the violence on "migrants, jihadists and communists" while campaigning for the Republican Party ahead of the US midterm elections, which choose members of Congress. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said France had been hit by an "invasion of extremist Islam."

Macron responded that AI-generated images showing scenes that never happened in France were circulating. He said there had been foreign disinformation in the aftermath of the unrest, and that claims France had been invaded by hordes of migrants and Islamists are completely false. Reuters reported that he vowed to prevent a repeat of the violence at protests planned in the coming days.

Macron pledged that people who want to cause disorder in city centres on the following Saturday will be prevented from doing so. The gilets jaunes, or yellow vests, movement has filed plans for a march through central Paris that day.

Financial markets also reacted. The French 10-year government bond yield, the interest rate the government pays to borrow money over a decade, passed 5% on Wednesday. That is its highest level since 2002.

The crisis comes about six months before French presidential elections to choose Macron's successor.