The ruling La Republique En Marche party had earlier defended Macron’s use of coarse language in a stepped up campaign against those who have not been fully vaccinated against COVID,after his words drew condemnation from the opposition and mixed reactions from voters.
Macron said he wanted to “piss off” unvaccinated people by making their lives so complicated they would end up getting the vaccine. He was speaking in an interview withLe Parisien newspaper,in which he also called unvaccinated people irresponsible and unworthy of being considered citizens.
“The unvaccinated,I really want to piss them off. And so,we’re going to continue doing so,until the end. That’s the strategy,” Macron toldLe Parisien newspaper in an interview published late on Tuesday.
The expression “emmerder”,from “merde”[shit],can also be translated as meaning “to get on someone’s nerves”,“to annoy” or “to make life difficult for someone”. It is considered “very informal” by French dictionaryLarousse and is widely used by people in all levels of French society,including children. It is not regarded as being as strong as its English equivalent.
France last year put in place a health pass that prevents people without a PCR test,proof of vaccination or recent infection to enter restaurants,cafes and other venues. The government wants to turn it into a vaccine passport that removes testing and previous infection from the equation.
The pass will also be required on inter-regional trains and buses,and on domestic flights.
“I won’t send[the unvaccinated] to prison,I won’t vaccinate by force,” Macron said. “So we need to tell them,from January 15,you won’t be able to go to the restaurant anymore,you won’t be able to down one,won’t be able to have a coffee,go to the theatre,the cinema.”