"(I have) the deep conviction that he humiliates us, that he does not listen to the French people, that he does not even listen to their representatives in Parliament," said the former first secretary of the Socialist Party, who said she was "not surprised, but extremely shocked by this intervention."
In particular, she deemed "unacceptable" the reference of Mr. Macron to the Capitol in Washington, stormed by supporters of Donald Trump, in a response on the excesses of recent days during demonstrations.
"To speak of factious is unacceptable on the part of a president of the Republic," insisted Ms. Aubry.
The Lille procession started around 15:00. "You put us 64, we may you 68", "Macron, do you feel sure? We censor you," read one of the placards.
"We had the 49.3, and now this kind of above-ground monologue of the president of the Republic," said a protester, Jean-Luc Meunet, 60, lecturer in Valenciennes. "They have to stop now, otherwise it's going to get out of hand."
"It's Mr. I-know-it-all, Mr. I'm right, we are nothing to him," rages Fadela Vandekerkhove, a forty-year-old trainer in nursing school. "He believes the demonstrations will stop? We will continue until the end, there is no resignation here!"
Demonstrations have been organized every evening in Lille in recent days. They led to clashes Tuesday night between police and some 250 people, which burned some garbage cans and briefly disrupted the Series Mania festival.
© 2023 AFP