French President Emmanuel Macron received widespread criticism online after his video of attending an Elton John concert went viral on social media on Friday amid the ongoing violent protests across France. Netizens criticised him for attending the British singer’s ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour in Paris along with his wife Brigitte. The video of Macron attending the show was getting widely circulated on social media while hundreds have been arrested over three nights of protests after a 17-year-old was fatally shot in the chest by the police after driving away from officers trying to pull him over, reported SkyNews.
As protesters burn French cities, Macron lights up at Elton John concert in Paris
The President of France in these shots is in a great mood, he enjoys music with his wife and dances a little. pic.twitter.com/v1CSKI7WB8
— Spriter Team (@SpriterTeam) June 30, 2023
One of the users, who posted the video online, said, “As protesters burn French cities, Macron lights up at Elton John concert in Paris. The President of France in these shots is in a great mood, he enjoys music with his wife and dances a little.”
Another user said, “When Rome was burning Nero was fiddling. Is Macron the modern-day Nero?”
Meanwhile, in a separate social media post, Elton John and his husband David Furnish also shared a photo on Instagram showing them meeting with Mr Macron and his wife.
In the caption, Furnish said, “Backstage in Paris.” However, an MEP for National Rally, Thierry Mariani said, “While France was on fire, Macron was not at the side of his minister of the interior or the police, but he preferred to applaud Elton John.”
Reacting to the Instagram posts, one user said “Wrong timing.” Another user said, “Macron is below everything”. A third user said, “At the same time a child was killed by police under his government, he’s enjoying a show. Disgrace on Macron”.
Meanwhile, Macron has blamed social media for fueling violence in France and said that it had played a “significant role in the events of the past few days”.
He further said he would try to get “the most sensitive types of content” removed, and would also ask different social media sites to reveal the identities of people, who were promoting violence, reported SkyNews.
Notably, around 667 people were arrested across France overnight following a third day of protests over the death of the teenager. Around 40,000 police officers have also been deployed across the nation after the incident.