PARIS — Team Macron is fighting back as the Yellow Jacket protest drags on.
For the fourth consecutive day, the grassroots movement took to the streets Tuesday, blockading toll booths, truck stops and roundabouts throughout France. Named after the neon garments worn by activists, the movement takes issue with a planned hike in tax on gas announced by Emmanuel Macron. Since the weekend, the demonstrations have involved 280,000 people and resulted in at least 528 injuries, including one fatality.
In response, Macron officials launched a media counteroffensive to turn the tide against the movement, which has so far enjoyed widespread approval.
“Today, we’re seeing a radicalization [of the movement] with demands that are no longer coherent and go in every direction,” said Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, a close Macron ally, during a Tuesday TV interview. “One very much senses the purpose is to jam up France.”
His comments were part of a united government front against the Yellow Jackets in the media. Their central message: The leaderless movement has gone too far.
A burning barricade blocking the fuel depot of Port-La-Nouvelle, eastern France | Raymond Roig/AFP via Getty Images
“There have been homophobic and racist incidents, there has been violence, it’s not acceptable. Any radicalization worries me and calls for a firm and determined response,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on morning radio.
Ecology Secretary Emmanuelle Wargon joined the pile-on, making her case on Radio Classique that those “adding fuel to the fire” would suffer most from a stalled transition to green energy.
Speaking to MPs in Macron’s centrist La République en Marche party, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe assured that the government would not budge in the face of Yellow Jacket blockades.
“We will win together with coherence, consistency, and determination,” he said, according to Le Figaro.
Protesters near the oil depot of Frontignan, southern France | Pascal Guyot/AFP via Getty Images
The French leadership is betting that the Yellow Jackets fizzle out. But the scramble to change the narrative shows how dominant the issue has become nearly six months out from the European Parliament election.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, came to the defense of the activists, accusing Castaner of “adding injustice to injustice” by associating the movement with “criminals” who also attacked Yellow Jackets.
Her rival Macron remained mostly silent while his Cabinet battled it out on French airwaves. But the French president, in neighboring Belgium, did allude to the protest during remarks to university students.
“It is in dialogue that we can get out of it … in the capacity of finding both a good rhythm and solutions on the ground,” he said during an appearance with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.
By staying out of the limelight, Macron, whose comments on protesters have frequently caused anger, could be helping his case.
Marie Gallien, a prominent voice for the Yellow Jackets, announced Monday evening that it is time for the angry motorists to head home.
“People are fed up with the Yellow Jackets. We are in the middle of turning everyone against us,” she warned on local radio. “If we continue, we are all going to come to blows.”