Emmanuel Macron did not “seek to provoke” a crowd when he went to Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis) on Tuesday and greeted passers-by, assured Sibeth Ndiaye on Wednesday in the face of the criticisms raised by this grouping around the chef. of the state contrary to the required distancing against the coronavirus.
The president “obviously did not seek to provoke this gathering, he wished to greet the citizens who were in particular at their windows. There were notably young people who came down around him. (...) Obviously his vocation is to always respect barrier gestures and he had the opportunity, at that time, to remind those around him, " said the spokeswoman for government after the Council of Ministers.
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Sibeth Ndiaye also assured that each visit of the president was "organized so as to obviously respect health precautions" .
Ms. Ndiaye, however, ruled out the possibility that the head of state reduce his trips. The Elysee Palace told AFP that the head of state "would pursue them" in order to "show his support and recognition to the people mobilized in this fight" against the Covid-19.
After Tuesday visiting a nursing home in Pantin, in which he had removed the mask he wore when entering, Emmanuel Macron greeted at length from below the building of people out on the balconies, according to the journalist of the AFP on site.
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While his car was waiting for him, ready to leave for La Courneuve, the president then left on foot in a perpendicular street where many people passed despite the confinement. Thirty to forty people then gathered around the head of state, many photographing him with his smartphone in hand, with cries sometimes of encouragement but also of contestation.
The head of state stayed about five minutes in front of this small group, saying to them with a smile, his hands clasped in an Indian greeting: "I know it's hard but you have to hold on, respect the rules" or again, extending his arm, "You are too close there . " The images of this meeting were filmed by LCI and by many Internet users, which prompted many comments on social networks.
