These leaked videos show French President Emmanuel Macron caught in a heated row with a medic just moments before he is seen posing for the cameras and clapping with health professionals.
The first video showing the clapping was shared by the Elysee Palace while the second footage showing the heated exchange was shared by a healthcare workers’ union, and French media have been in a frenzy over it as no journalists were reportedly allowed at the event.
After Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the Kremlin-Bicetre hospital in Paris on 9th April, the Elysee Palace released a single video (the first video) showing a nurse asking the President: “Can we applaud each other as people do at 8pm?”, which is followed by long applause.
Video Credit: Newsflash
However, a second clip recorded at the meeting, during which the Elysee Palace is said to have banned filming and at which no journalists were present, has now been released showing a fierce exchange preceded the applause.
In the second video, shared by the USAP-CGT (L’union syndicale CGT de l’Assistance Publique) hospital workers’ union, Macron tells one of the workers: “What’s true is that we haven’t made up for 15 years of hospital tariff cuts, you’re right.”
But he then added: “But I won’t take responsibility for anything that’s been done before.”
The worker responds by saying: “You know, these jobs, we do them because they are a calling,” with Macron saying “I know”.
The worker goes on to say: “We do them because we love people, we’re in a public hospital.”
The president responds by saying: “I’m the only one in my family who is not a caregiver, madam.”
However, the hospital worker continues by saying: “We caregivers are poor, and tomorrow we could be in the beds too. And when the problem comes back to us, we wish we could help but with the lack of resources and staff, we can’t.”
Video Credit: Newsflash
Macron then responds by saying they will “all learn the lessons” collectively.
An employee from the hospital told local media: “We had orders not to film anything or take photos. This video is truncated.
“It does not show the ten-minute intervention of a care worker who questioned Emmanuel Macron.
“She ended by asking the president if the hospital staff could applaud each other. At no time did we applaud Emmanuel Macron.”
Isabelle Bernard, a nurse and secretary of the CGT (Worker Union) of the Kremlin-Bicetre hospital, told Le Parisien: “It was certainly not Macron that we applauded at his invitation.
“Our colleague took to the floor in a visceral way to talk about the working conditions of the carers and the problems we encounter.
“She told the president that we had been calling him for a long time, that we had been on strike for months and that he had never responded.
“That it was a pity that it took thousands of deaths for him to be concerned about healthcare.”
Macron tells nurse he will not take responsibility for anything that has been done before 
Macron tells nurse he will not take responsibility for anything that has been done before
Reacting to the leaked video, the Presidential Press Association (APP) in a statement disapproved of the President making visits around the country without journalists present.
An excerpt from the statement said the Elysee Palace had recently “prevented or interrupted journalists from taking pictures or making sounds during exchanges with the head of state.”
Macron recently announced that the isolation period in France would be extended until 11th May.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Ernest Bio Bogore, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
The Ananova page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
DailyMail
