London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Macron: 'I really want to piss off' the unvaccinated

Macron: 'I really want to piss off' the unvaccinated

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he "really wants to piss off" unvaccinated people, intensifying a heated political debate over strict new rules for those who have refused the shot.

In an interview with Le Parisien newspaper on Tuesday, Macron said: "I'm not for pissing off the French ... Now the unvaccinated, I really want to piss them off. And so, we're going to keep doing it, until the end. This is the strategy."

His remarks drew swift and angry condemnation from opposition lawmakers, who were debating Macron's proposed new set of rules for unvaccinated people that would ban them from much of public life.

A parliamentary debate over the bill was suspended in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and will restart later in the day, raising doubts over whether the stricter vaccine pass will take effect by the government's intended January 15 deadline.

The proposed legislation would replace France's health pass with a vaccine pass, meaning proof of vaccination is necessary for access to a range of everyday activities, from entering restaurants and bars to traveling inside the country. It would no longer accept proof of a negative test or recent recovery from Covid.

"I'm not going to put them in jail, I'm not going to forcibly vaccinate them, and so, you have to tell them: from January 15, you will no longer be able to go to the restaurant, you will no longer be able to have a drink, go for a coffee, to the theater, you will no longer go to the movies," Macron told Le Parisien.

Macron described those opposed to vaccination as "irresponsible," adding that "they undermined the strength of a nation."

"When my freedom threatens that of others, I become irresponsible," he said. "An irresponsible person is no longer a citizen."

His remarks were immediately seized on by his rivals in this year's presidential election. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Twitter that "a president shouldn't say that," calling Macron "unworthy of his office" and claiming he wants to make unvaccinated people "second-class citizens."

The controversy came amid a tense debate in France over how to deal with the unvaccinated minority of the population.

Parliamentarian Patricia Miralles told CNN affiliate BFMTV that she has received dozens of threats since the first parliamentary discussions on the health pass in July 2021. Another legislator, Ludovic Mendes, told the news channel that as an elected official, he has faced "permanent hate, constant death threats" from some members of the public since the beginning of the pandemic.

France has vaccinated around 74% of its total population, one of the higher rates in the EU. But it has been heavily hit by the more transmissible Omicron variant, and has reported record infections in recent days.

It registered 271,686 new cases on Tuesday, its highest load to date. Hospitalizations also reached their highest rate since May, with 20,186 Covid patients being cared for.

Much of Europe is facing similar sky-high figures as Omicron sweeps through its populations. The UK and Italy both also saw record rates of infections on Tuesday, and Germany's caseload increased sharply on last week.

But countries are taking varying approaches in light of Omicron's reduced severity. Several European states imposed new restrictions over the Christmas period, with Italy implementing an outdoor mask mandate and the Netherlands going into lockdown. Meanwhile in England, where vaccine passes for some settings were introduced in early December, the UK's health secretary said Tuesday that "no further restrictions" were needed.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×