Shrill protests in France as Macron targets unvaccinated

French President Emmanuel Macron has provoked outcries in parliament and shrill protests from election rivals by using a vulgarity to describe his strategy for pressuring vaccine refusers to get coronavirus jabs

PARIS -- French President Emmanuel Macron has provoked outcries in parliament and protests from election rivals by using a vulgarity to describe his strategy for pressuring vaccine refusers to get coronavirus jabs.

Macron used the French word “emmerder,” rooted in the French word for “crap” and meaning to rile or to bug, in an interview published by French newspaper Le Parisien on Tuesday night. The president made the explosive remark as lawmakers are heatedly debating new measures that would allow only the vaccinated to enjoy leisure activities such as eating out.

“The unvaccinated, I really want to bug them. And so we will continue doing so, to the end. That's the strategy," Le Parisien quoted the French leader as saying in a sit-down interview at the presidential Elysee Palace with a panel of its readers.

His use of earthy language more commonly heard at the counters of French cafés further complicated the already difficult passage in parliament of the government's planned new vaccine pass. Lawmakers debated into early Wednesday morning before their discussions were again suspended, disrupted by the furor over Macron's remarks.