Macron's gilets jaunes speech is pivotal after Notre Dame disaster
2019-04-18 10:35:38 source：The Guardian
April 17, 2019
The broadcast was ready to go. Emmanuel Macron’s address to the nation in response to months of protest and violence from the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement and the “great national debate” they sparked had been recorded that afternoon and was due to go live at 8pm.
Running to 26 minutes, it was, said Le Monde, “a make-or-break moment for the presidency and for this president, confronted […] with one of the most serious social crises the country has known for 30 years”.
But just before 7pm, the first flames began licking the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral. After a moment’s hesitation, Macron pulled the broadcast, tweeting his sorrow “at seeing a part of us all burn this evening”.
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