The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, has seen his popularity collapse following what some have described as a “French Watergate” scandal.
Video captured one of Macron’s security aides, 26-year-old Alexandre Benalla, hitting a male protester and violently manhandling a woman.
“Bennalla was wearing a police visor and helmet but was only supposed to be observing the police in action,” CNBC reports. “A few days after the incident Macron suspended Benalla, but the security official was not sacked until July 20, a few days after being identified by the newspaper Le Monde.”
The criticism of Macron focuses on his handling of the situation by choosing to remain largely silent over the matter. He also reportedly told one of his own ministers in a private meeting that his rivals “could come and get me if they dare.”
Political analyst Thomas Guenole of Sciences Po told CNBC the statement shows that the French president is behaving “like a child-king, and not like a statesman.” It also shatters the projected image of the brave leader he so carefully crafted throughout his campaign and early presidency. Nothing better demonstrated that than his open affront to President Trump while addressing Congress earlier this year.
Guenole concluded that this “BenallaGate” could prove costly in the long run.
“This ‘BenallaGate’ is a French Watergate,” said Guenole. “Because just like the U.S. one, the problem is not the crime but the cover-up. The French people saw lieutenants and ministers of Macron lie repeatedly.”
Despite setting a record by becoming the youngest president of France at age 39, winning 66% of the vote against Marine Le Pen, Macron has seen a sharp decline in his approval ratings. One poll from Ifop found that only 29% of the country thinks he understands the problems facing ordinary people, and the security guard scandal is not the only reason for that.
Among his recent offenses to the working class are building a swimming pool at a presidential retreat on the Mediterranean and infamously talking down to a teenager and a blue-collar worker, CNBC notes. One of France’s richest men, François Pinault of Gucci, has publicly claimed that Macron “does not understand the little people.”