VIDEO: Macron joins French sing-song as protesters take to the streets
As the streets of Paris once again erupted in protest over pension reform, president Emmanuel Macron took a walk and joined a group of young people singing traditional French songs, newly emerged video shows.
The video surfaced online on Tuesday of Macron singing a traditional song in the street after a televised address in which he sought to soothe tensions over his unpopular pension reforms.
Many internet users suspected the footage was faked using AI or other means when it first emerged, but people close to Macron told AFP it was genuine
"The president took a moment with his wife Brigitte after his speech (on Monday evening).
"They encountered a group of young people who were singing... so he joined them in a song from the Pyrenees which he knows and loves," they said.
Sur cette autre vidéo, on voit le président de la République être interpellé en pleine rue par des choristes du Chœur Saint-Longin, qui s'étaient retrouvés au café Saint-Placide, rue de Rennes (Paris 6e) pic.twitter.com/XgJ1UamcP8
— Nicolas Boutin (@NicolasBoutin11) April 18, 2023
In the night-time video, Macron can be seen reading from his phone the words of "Le Refuge", a song about a lodge in the mountain range on France's southwestern border with Spain, surrounded by men in their 20s and 30s singing vigorously.
While some saw it as a welcome show of connection with voters for the president, whose reforms including an increase to the pension age have earned him widespread animosity in recent weeks, others have criticised the political background of the singers.
The video was first published on the Facebook page of an organisation called "Projet Canto".
While the group describes itself as preserving traditional songs in digital form, left-wing newspaper Libération reported last year that it was founded and run by far-right activists and offered recordings of songs with ties to Nazi Germany in its app.
Macron "could not have known in the moment the backgrounds of every person he was speaking to," the person in his entourage said.
The group told Libération last year that "political songs are part of the history of song, that's why we've stored them," saying it also had "far-left" songs in its catalogue.
Macron previously sang "Le Refuge" during a trip to the Upper Pyrenees in 2022.
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The video surfaced online on Tuesday of Macron singing a traditional song in the street after a televised address in which he sought to soothe tensions over his unpopular pension reforms.
Many internet users suspected the footage was faked using AI or other means when it first emerged, but people close to Macron told AFP it was genuine
"The president took a moment with his wife Brigitte after his speech (on Monday evening).
"They encountered a group of young people who were singing... so he joined them in a song from the Pyrenees which he knows and loves," they said.
Sur cette autre vidéo, on voit le président de la République être interpellé en pleine rue par des choristes du Chœur Saint-Longin, qui s'étaient retrouvés au café Saint-Placide, rue de Rennes (Paris 6e) pic.twitter.com/XgJ1UamcP8
— Nicolas Boutin (@NicolasBoutin11) April 18, 2023
In the night-time video, Macron can be seen reading from his phone the words of "Le Refuge", a song about a lodge in the mountain range on France's southwestern border with Spain, surrounded by men in their 20s and 30s singing vigorously.
While some saw it as a welcome show of connection with voters for the president, whose reforms including an increase to the pension age have earned him widespread animosity in recent weeks, others have criticised the political background of the singers.
The video was first published on the Facebook page of an organisation called "Projet Canto".
While the group describes itself as preserving traditional songs in digital form, left-wing newspaper Libération reported last year that it was founded and run by far-right activists and offered recordings of songs with ties to Nazi Germany in its app.
Macron "could not have known in the moment the backgrounds of every person he was speaking to," the person in his entourage said.
The group told Libération last year that "political songs are part of the history of song, that's why we've stored them," saying it also had "far-left" songs in its catalogue.
Macron previously sang "Le Refuge" during a trip to the Upper Pyrenees in 2022.
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