Macron Should've Said Anti-Vaxxers Are Pissing Off France's Vaccinated Majority

I must admit I was baffled when I learned that French President Emmanuel Macron wanted to "piss off" the unvaccinated. My bafflement at Macron's remarks is because I cannot think of a group of people who are more disagreeable than the unvaccinated (which in this country tends to go hand in hand with being a Trump supporter). France has seen more than its share of anti-vaccine protests.

Macron is up for re-election in April and if the unvaccinated in France weren't pissed off I think he has lit a fire under them and motivated them to vote for his opponent. At this point, his opponent isn't clear. It could Marine Le Pen once again or another right-wing populist like Eric Zemmour or Republican Valerie Pecresse. It should be noted that Macron has not formally declared that he is running. But it would be very odd if he didn't. Assuming that Macron is running, I'm sure he believes a majority of France's voters will side with him. After all, as of this writing, France's fully vaccinated rate is just over 74% which is more than 10% higher than in the U.S.

With all that said, I think Macron should have sent a different message. Instead of saying that he wanted to piss off the unvaccinated he should have said that France's vaccinated majority was pissed off with the unvaccinated for unnecessarily prolonging the pandemic. Macron could have maintained his indignation but done so in a plural manner speaking on behalf of the nation. He could have done what Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did when he said today that Canadians were "angry" and "frustrated" with the unvaccinated.

Had Macron emulated Trudeau or said something along those lines then he would have put the pressure on the unvaccinated. Instead, Macron drew attention to himself by declaring that he wanted to anger a group of people who were already angry in the first place. 

We'll see if Macron's shot across the bow paid off. But if he loses or if he suddenly decides against running today will have been the beginning of the end of his premiership.