France has hit back at the Trump administration after the White House again tried to use the unrest sweeping Europe for its own political aims.
The White House’s official account on X on Wednesday shared footage of the ongoing protests in France, contrasted with romantic imagery of an orderly Paris in the early 20th century.
“France before and after is a warning. The chaos, looting and destruction we’re watching is exactly the future radical Democrats are pushing for America,” the White House said, asking: “Is this the future you want?”
The French Response page, which is managed by the ministry of foreign affairs, pushed back on the appeal to an idealised past, writing: “France since then: Infant mortality ÷40. Life expectancy: +17 years. Most visited country on Earth for over 30 years.”
“Nostalgia can be misleading,” they added.
The US and French accounts have repeatedly clashed over the recent unrest, echoing pointed rhetoric from US president Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.
French Response last week took a jab at the US record on violence, sharing figures on US firearm homicides in response to ICE saying “every day we are fighting to prevent American streets from looking like this” with footage of the French riots.
When US senator Ted Cruz pointed to the riots as evidence the US should not look to Western Europe for inspiration on how to be a better country, French Response said: “An American debate. No need to outsource the scenery to France.”
President Trump sparked anger in Europe this month when he joined with the Kremlin in blaming the ongoing riots in France on “mass immigration”.
In a post on Truth Social on October 18, he claimed that people “from an entirely different world” had “shattered that once great country” of France, urging: “Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!”
Days later, he claimed without evidence that France was being “conquered, looted and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists and communists who hate Christianity” and “the Western civilisation itself”.
Following a weekend of nationwide unrest, president Macron accused leaders including Trump of making “stupid comments” on the riots for political gain, saying they were “as unacceptable as they are stupid”.
Asked by a reporter if he was referring to Trump, the outgoing premier replied: “Among others.”
Macron and Trump once enjoyed a good relationship, but Trump regularly mocks the French president in his public speeches.
“The fact is, all the people who are speaking ill of our country right now are people who don’t love our country,” Macron said. “So those people really bother me.”
High school students initially blockaded their schools to protest against inadequate staffing and resources, in a movement that has since broadened to encompass general trade unions and the so-called "Yellow Vests" to express anger about weakening public services and cost-of-living increases.
The French government, under pressure from bond markets to reduce its debt level, has little spare cash to respond to protesters' demands.
The administration this Monday announced a raft of proposals for educational reforms aimed at ending the unrest.
But Sophie Venetitay, the secretary general for teachers' union SNES-FSU, told reporters that the measures did not go far enough, saying the size of more classes should be capped and more people should be hired to improve learning conditions.
“Today, what the ministry has said is only the beginning of a response,” she said. “It will not be enough to extinguish the anger.”
Student leaders also said the government's concessions were a good first step, but vowed to continue demonstrations, on Saturday and on November 5.
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