Small World
Some foreign leaders blame migration for France's riots. Macron says that's 'stupid''
By Ellen Francis The Washington Post
Published Oct. 22, 2026
Contact The Editor
Articles By This Author
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday criticized foreign leaders he said were using France's unrest for their own political gain, making "unacceptable and even stupid comments."
In a swipe at President Donald Trump and others, Macron rebuked politicians he said were promoting misinformation that French protests, which spiraled into riots over the weekend, represent an immigrant takeover of the country.
The French president, responding to questions from reporters, said foreign interference did not appear to have triggered mass protests over rising cost of living or the riots that ensued. Instead, Macron said, "there was foreign manipulation of information afterward, which led to unacceptable and even stupid comments by many, including foreign leaders."
Speaking in Qatar, during a diplomatic visit to the Persian Gulf, Macron did not identify the leaders in question by name, but referred to those "who are in campaign mode, here in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic."
Asked whether he was referring to Trump, he replied, "among others."
"We saw artificial intelligence images showing scenes that never happened in France. We have people claiming that we had been invaded by hordes of migrants and Islamists, which is completely false," he said. "There are people campaigning off our backs."
Ahead of the U.S. midterm elections next month, Trump made unsubstantiated declarations at a rally on Monday, saying that France was being "conquered, looted and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists and communists who hate Christianity."
Trump and his supporters have posted social media musings on the upheaval in France since protests began weeks ago over an array of economic and other grievances. "The migrants have taken over France," Trump said in a Truth Social post Monday. "They must CLOSE THE BORDERS, FAST!"
Vice President JD Vance sought to rally voters with comments on the riots in France, saying that a similar fate awaits the United States if Democrats win.
"In times like these, we can see who loves France and who doesn't," Macron told reporters Wednesday.
"We don't need that," he said of the characterizations. "We already have difficulties. We are managing them carefully, with respect, but also with determination and firmness and we'll see it through to the end, … but one shouldn't go around saying nonsense."
Protests have swept France in recent weeks, drawing a broad range of people to the streets, including students, labor unions, farmers and public workers expressing grievances including over rising prices, budget cuts and pressure on public services. More than half a million people marched in Paris and cities across France on Saturday before violence broke out that stunned the country, with masked rioters torching cars and ransacking stores.
"Every day we are fighting to prevent American streets from looking like this," read a post Wednesday from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement account referring to the riots in France.
The French foreign ministry responded on social media. "Every day we are fighting to prevent French stats from looking like this," it wrote, sharing a comparison of firearm homicide levels in the U.S. with other nations.
Well before the weekend's dramatic scenes, far-right or anti-immigrant influencers, including conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, spread a narrative that the French protests were a manifestation of an immigrant invasion or racial and religious strife, with slogans such as "France has fallen." Some promoted false claims online of dead bodies in the streets or posted unrelated images of disorder that were then widely shared.
The protest demands and government response in France have not centered around migration or religion.
This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also campaigning for reelection, claimed France was overrun by an "invasion of extremist Islam."
Kremlin special envoy Kirill Dmitriev also shared posts on X depicting the French protests as the "collapse" of Europe at the hands of migration and efforts to reduce dependence on Russian energy.
In France, the domestic debate has instead focused on a widespread sense of economic discontent.
The far-right National Rally has accused the far left of stoking violence and promoted its anti-immigrant platform for next year's presidential election. Still, even the party's leader, Marine Le Pen, has largely focused on blaming her political rivals and promoting herself as the law-and-order candidate.
Trump administration officials have regularly promoted depictions of unfettered migration as Europe's main threat, irking some European leaders even as the continent adopts restrictive controls.
Some politicians in other European counties have in recent days seized on the moment to renew calls for a crackdown on migration, a key election issue and rallying point for the right across the continent.
Some online commentators have also pointed to images of protesters carrying Palestinian flags, a cause championed by left-leaning movements in France and globally. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, a critic of Trump and Netanyahu, joined some French students protesting underfunded schools earlier this month.
French government officials have blamed the weekend's rioting and looting on "ultraleft" groups, pointing to security lapses that left police unable contain the mayhem. Authorities have imposed curfews to restore calm.
As Trump wades into the discourse on France, one factor mobilizing many protesters is a rise in prices, including energy prices driven by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Macron on Wednesday, repeating a point he has made in recent days, said he went to the Gulf partly to help bring down prices fueled by a war France did not seek but that is weighing on its citizens.
(COMMENT, BELOW)
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.