‘Inappropriate’: France’s Macron in hot water over jet ski picture, amid heatwaves and wildfires

PARIS - President Emmanuel Macron found himself in hot water on Aug 14 after he was pictured riding a jet ski on the Riviera, fuelling opposition claims that he is disconnected from ordinary people grappling with heatwaves and wildfires.

The 48-year-old president drew criticism after Paris Match magazine splashed a photo of Macron speeding across the Riviera on a jet ski across its cover.

Wearing a life vest that showcased his toned arms, Macron cut a sporty figure as he vacationed at the Bregancon Fort, the presidential retreat, during France’s August summer break.

“Last summer at the controls,” Paris Match said on its cover, referring to Macron’s departure from the Elysee palace in 2027 when his second and final term ends.

The magazine also featured photographs of Macron engaging in water sports such as foil surfing, during a summer marked by successive heatwaves and deadly fires in France.

A member of Macron’s entourage said that the photos were not authorised.

“There have been unauthorised photos of the president every year for the past nine years,” the aide said.

The images drew gripes from the left-wing opposition.

Greens leader Marine Tondelier said the French people were enduring an “apocalyptic summer” while “our president treats himself to a promotional feature about his vacation.”

She contrasted the magazine’s photo with the “deaths caused by five heatwaves, a drought, and historic wildfires.”

Socialist leader Olivier Faure suggested Macron was sending the wrong message.

“During a heatwave, while France is burning and when many French people could not afford to go on vacation, the president is having fun on a jet ski in Bregancon,” he said.

Communist Senator Pierre Ouzoulias called the photos “inappropriate”.

He said he would have preferred to see Macron “in a fire truck helping firefighters put out the blaze. That’s where he should have been.”

“After the summer we have experienced, showing that the president is essentially on vacation does not, in my view, match the level of concern felt by the population, which is widespread,” Ouzoulias said.

Paris Match described Macron’s vacation as “work-focused,” noting that an office has been set up and that “the president spends his days on the phone.”

The magazine said Macron’s vacation routine also included boxing and running. AFP