President Macron has been accused of making racist, sexist and homophobic comments by the respected French newspaper Le Monde.
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.”
Opposition leaders, however, immediately denounced the president’s reported comments. Tondelier posted on X: “Yesterday we became aware of extremely shocking homophobic comments by the president of the Republic about Gabriel Attal. Today it’s sexist comments … We await tomorrow with impatience.”
Manuel Bompard of the far-left France Unbowed posted: “These racist remarks by the president of the Republic, reported by Le Monde newspaper, are an insult to the Republic. It’s an absolute disgrace. I can’t wait for him to go.”
The row erupted as Marcon insisted he was “not the cyclone” as he was booed and told to resign on a tour of communities devastated by a storm in the French Indian Ocean region of Mayotte.
Angry residents told him that they had no clean drinking water and demanded more aid, saying they felt abandoned by the French authorities. “I’m not the cyclone,” the president responded. “I’m not to blame.”
Residents shouted “Macron resign”, “You’re talking rubbish” and “Water, water, water,” as he visited some of the worst-hit areas, where flimsy huts have been reduced to piles of wreckage.
In a heated exchange, the president defended the government against accusations that it neglects Mayotte. “You are happy to be in France. If it weren’t for France, you would be 10,000 times worse off,” he said, using an expletive, according to Reuters.
Aboubacar Ahamada Mlachahi, one of many people struggling to secure basic supplies, said: “What matters first is water, for the children. Before fixing the houses, before fixing anything, the daily life … we need water.”
The 34-year-old construction worker, who is originally from Comoros, a neighbouring island country, said that his house had been destroyed by the cyclone and he was now squatting on a hillside at Longoni, Mayotte’s freight port. “Everything is gone,” he said.
Macron had planned to leave Mayotte on Thursday after a quick visit, but decided to stay for an extra day. “It’s a sign of respect and consideration that is important to me and which allows me to see a little more of what the population is going through,” he said.
Leaving after a visit of just a few hours could have led people to believe “that we come, we look [and] we leave”, he said.
Macron announced that France would observe a national day of mourning on Monday for the at least 31 people known to have died. Thousands are still missing, however, and the final toll is expected to be far higher.
Much of the archipelago is still without power. Aid workers said water and food were the top priorities. Macron brought four tonnes of food and medical supplies with him. He has pledged to rebuild the islands’ devastated homes and infrastructure.
The territory off the east coast of Africa, to the north of Madagascar, is the poorest part of France. Crime rates are high and it is plagued by poor housing and public services. Its resources have been strained by mass illegal immigration from neighbouring Comoros.
Undocumented migrants are believed to have been among those worst affected by the cyclone. Official statistics put the population at 321,000, but the real figure is believed to be much higher.
A state of natural disaster has been declared so that bureaucratic barriers can be circumvented to deal with the crisis more speedily.
Cyclone Chido, the worst to hit the archipelago in 90 years, brought winds of more than 140mph on Saturday, flattening areas where most people live in makeshift shacks with sheet metal roofs.
The storm also hit the African mainland, killing at least 45 people in Mozambique and 13 in Malawi.
