A man slapped Emmanuel Macron in the face on Tuesday, briefly interrupting a walkabout during the French president’s tour of the provinces ahead of this month’s regional elections. Mr Macron described the incident as an “isolated event” and said: “We must not let ultra-violent people take over the public debate, they do not deserve it.”. Shortly before the incident, Macron was calling for political calm. “Opposition parties can express themselves freely in a democracy,” Mr Macron said, “but the other side of that is an end to violence and hate ... Mr Macron is not the first French president to be targeted with violence in a public place.

Source: The Irish Times June 08, 2021 13:25 UTC