The image almost looks like an ad for a brewery: the president raises the bottle, looks at the players, tilts his head, and prepares to drink. Not for a second not to breathe. The bottle is emptying while the athletes cheer him on. In just 20 seconds, Emmanuel Macron he fulfills his mission, now he breathes, smiles, raises his hand to greet and leaves.
The French president, who is going through his lowest moment of popularity after approving the controversial pension reform, has gone from being booed and received with saucepans a few weeks ago to being cheered in the middle of a locker room for the aforementioned feat. It was last Saturday, in the Toulouse locker room, after the team’s victory in the final of the French Rugby League.
Just two months ago, in the French Cup final held at the Stade de France in Paris, Macron was whistled and the security device had to be increased to avoid problems. This Saturday he quietly celebrated the meeting with the players almost to applause.
The image, which has circulated through all social networks and media, has sparked controversy, as there are those who believe that this gesture is not a good example. Some consider that it ruins all the campaigns for young people to consume in moderation. Others see a macho gesture.
The leader of the environmentalists, Sandrine Rosseau, has criticized this gesture that “recalls toxic masculinity in political leadership.” “Drink a beer in one gulp. What are you trying to prove? That you’re a real guy?” Manly cliché, masculinist and old-fashioned populism“, has agreed the socialist senator Laurence Rossignol.