Emmanuel Macron seeks to dispel concerns of a drift in the second term

In a July 14 television interview, the French president sought to reassure a country rocked by rising inflation, scorching temperatures and waters uncertain policies.
< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">PARIS — In his first television interview since his re-election, French President Emmanuel Macron adopted a combative tone on Thursday, trying to reassure the French that he was firmly behind the wheel to meet challenges ranging from inflation to climate change.
After a rocky start to his second term that fueled fears that apathy would takes over the presidency, Mr Macron rejected the idea that the country was heading for five years of "immobility" after losing its absolute majority last month in the lower house of Parliament.
"Not at all", he said, before smiling at the two journalists from the TV channels TF1 and France 2 television who were interviewing him on the Élysée lawn, and adding: "You haven't heard what I've been saying for an hour!"
Mr. Macron, sounding energetic, had said a lot - about French military spending and rising inflation amid the war in Ukraine, about the need to tackle climate change as France tries to deal with the fires forest and a sweltering heat wave, and on his wish to reform the French labor market and pension system.
"I want the country to move forward" , Mr. Macron said in the July 14 interview. "I will do everything to find intelligent compromises along this path."
Since taking office in 2017, Mr. Macron had broken with the widely observed presidential tradition of the 14 July televised. interviews, giving only one before, in 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
His decision to return to tradition on Thursday has suggested he was eager to shore up support and give France a sense of direction that has been lacking in recent months.
A survey released this week by the polling institute Ifop revealed that his popularity rating, which has fallen since his election, was at 37%, its lowest level since the start of the pandemic.
ImageIn just the second July 14 TV interview since his election in 2017, Mr Macron disputed that the country was heading for five years of "immobility." »Credit...Ludovic Marin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Mr. Macron convincingly beat far-right leader Marine Le Pen to win a second term in April, but a poor performance by his party and its center-right allies in the legislative elections, attributed by some analysts in part to his lack of involvement in the campaign, has raised questions about his ability to govern.

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Emmanuel Macron seeks to dispel concerns of a drift in the second term

In a July 14 television interview, the French president sought to reassure a country rocked by rising inflation, scorching temperatures and waters uncertain policies.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">PARIS — In his first television interview since his re-election, French President Emmanuel Macron adopted a combative tone on Thursday, trying to reassure the French that he was firmly behind the wheel to meet challenges ranging from inflation to climate change.

After a rocky start to his second term that fueled fears that apathy would takes over the presidency, Mr Macron rejected the idea that the country was heading for five years of "immobility" after losing its absolute majority last month in the lower house of Parliament.

"Not at all", he said, before smiling at the two journalists from the TV channels TF1 and France 2 television who were interviewing him on the Élysée lawn, and adding: "You haven't heard what I've been saying for an hour!"

Mr. Macron, sounding energetic, had said a lot - about French military spending and rising inflation amid the war in Ukraine, about the need to tackle climate change as France tries to deal with the fires forest and a sweltering heat wave, and on his wish to reform the French labor market and pension system.

"I want the country to move forward" , Mr. Macron said in the July 14 interview. "I will do everything to find intelligent compromises along this path."

Since taking office in 2017, Mr. Macron had broken with the widely observed presidential tradition of the 14 July televised. interviews, giving only one before, in 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

His decision to return to tradition on Thursday has suggested he was eager to shore up support and give France a sense of direction that has been lacking in recent months.

A survey released this week by the polling institute Ifop revealed that his popularity rating, which has fallen since his election, was at 37%, its lowest level since the start of the pandemic.

ImageIn just the second July 14 TV interview since his election in 2017, Mr Macron disputed that the country was heading for five years of "immobility." »Credit...Ludovic Marin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Mr. Macron convincingly beat far-right leader Marine Le Pen to win a second term in April, but a poor performance by his party and its center-right allies in the legislative elections, attributed by some analysts in part to his lack of involvement in the campaign, has raised questions about his ability to govern.