Macron interview on Brut: did the president manage to speak to the youth?

INTERVIEW

An interview to address young people.

Friday, Emmanuel Macron gave an interview of about 2:30 to the online media Brut, popular in particular by young people.

An exchange during which the Head of State addressed subjects as varied as police violence, the Algerian war, the climate, glyphosate, the coronavirus, or even the Uyghurs.

If 70% of people who watched this interview are under 35 years old, do the themes addressed really reflect the reality of the concerns of those Emmanuel Macron nicknamed the "Covid generation"? 

>> DECRYPTION - 

By choosing Brut for his interview, Macron targets young people ... but not only

For the Secretary of State for Youth, the interview is a success

"Yes", affirms at the microphone of Europe Evening weekend Sarah El Haïry, Secretary of State for Youth.

"He is a president who spoke to young people, I found him very sincere and he reminded each young person that the state is there and that it will help everyone, no one is alone."

A feeling that is not necessarily shared

But it is clear that the youth targeted by the president does not make the same analysis as the member of the government.

This is particularly the case of Rayane, a social science student who is in confinement with his parents in Forbach.

Invited from Europe Soir to debate with Sarah El Haïry, he considers that the president's attempt is a failure.

"Talking about police violence, about article 24 of the comprehensive security bill, about Turkish President Erdogan ... I don't think these are issues for young people."

Describing the precariousness of his student friends and their psychological distress - which he himself feels vis-à-vis the labor market - he did not "have the impression that the president wanted to address the youth . "

"If you have friends who need help, they must make themselves known," Sarah El Haïry retorts.

"Last week, we announced another 56 million euros for the emergency aid plan for students," she recalls.

"Our goal is to help all of our youth."

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"He did not come to answer our questions but to tell us what to do and what to think"

Also invited to debate, Clément, a 17-year-old Grenoblois, was very disappointed by the head of state.

"He did not come to answer our questions but to tell us what to do and what to think", he tackles, referring pell-mell to the measures of the citizens' convention against the climate or to discrimination against the police. 

A charge that Sarah El Haïry finds "a little unfair", especially on the environmental issue.

Recalling that the citizens' convention is "a first for our country", the Secretary of State also points out that "the whole recovery plan looks green".

And to abound: "We have never had a State so strong, so present, so protective. We must be fair and avoid hasty and radical responses."