President Macron has been accused of making racist, sexist and homophobic comments by the respected French newspaper Le Monde, reports The Times.
The report on Friday prompted a furious denial from the Élysée, but the paper said that it stood by its story. It said Macron told Aurélien Rousseau, his former health minister, last year: “The problem of [hospital] emergency departments in this country is that they’re filled with ‘Mamadous’.”
“Mamadou” is a common west African name sometimes used in France as a derogatory reference to a person of colour. Rousseau declined to comment on whether Macron had made the remarks, saying only that the matter dated from more than a year ago.
Le Monde also alleged that Macron called female political figures “cocottes”, a term used in French slang for a prostitute or a promiscuous woman.
He used it to refer to Lucie Castets, a senior civil servant proposed by left-wing parties as a candidate for prime minister after inconclusive parliamentary elections this summer, and to Marine Tondelier, leader of the Green Party, according to Le Monde.
The newspaper said that Macron had also described the Hôtel Matignon, the official residence of the French prime minister, as “la Cage aux Folles”, referring to a film about a gay couple running a nightclub, when Gabriel Attal, who is gay, was in office. Attal was appointed by Macron in January and resigned after the snap parliamentary elections over the summer.
“The Élysée formally denies these reported comments which were not checked with the president’s office before publication,” a member of the presidential staff said. “This raises questions of journalistic ethics.”