First posted on Instagram
French President Emmanuel Macron has said he has spent ten years hearing people explain that he is a fascist, pushing back against accusations that his government leans to the far right. He made the remarks in a long interview with journalist Hugo Travers of HugoDécrypte, published on Wednesday evening, October 28, 2026.
"If you have a problem with far-right ideas, I have one too," Macron said, defending his government against the accusations. "For ten years I've been hearing people say that I am a fascist," he added. (These are English translations of his remarks in French.)
The interview, which runs about one hour and 21 minutes, ranged across the issues driving weeks of unrest in France: the lycée student protests, the October 17 riots, the Parcoursup university admissions platform, the state of high schools, the racist attack in Trappes, poverty and fuel prices, and the rise of the far right.
In the same interview, Macron conceded that his government had not moved fast enough in responding to the student crisis, saying, "In any case, collectively we were not fast enough in our response. I will be honest with you — I think we should have moved faster, myself first." He urged a return to calm on both sides and expressed compassion and support for high-school students seriously injured in the violence, some of whom lost a hand or an eye. He also called for classes to resume from Monday, after the school holidays, saying he hoped calm would return.
The exchange has circulated widely since the interview was published, with a clip of the "fascist" remark drawing tens of thousands of views on X, as France remains gripped by protests over schools and living costs and a heated debate over political labelling.