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The French Push Back Against Macron Giving His Wife An Official Role

(Photo by Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images)

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Eric Lieberman Managing Editor
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French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly wants to appoint his wife to an official position, but many citizens are pushing back against the potential act of ostensible nepotism.

More than 240,000 people, as of Monday, have signed an online petition voicing their disapproval of Brigitte Macron receiving an formal role in her husband’s administration — showing that, while the president may have won in a landslide victory, his decisions are not without rebuke.

“It is up to the people of France to choose their representativeness and no other,” reads the petition, written by Thierry Paul Valette, a painter, author, and activist, according to a rough translation. “Moreover, more than 65% of the French are unfavorable to the creation of a special status for Brigitte Macron.”

Macron’s intention to have his wife serve concurrently as a first lady as well as another post not yet specified first arose during his campaign, so it shouldn’t be too surprising to the French people.

“I want there to be a defined role for her, and I will ask for a proposal to be presented on how to proceed in that regard,” Macron said during the lead up to the country’s presidential election, according to The Washington Post.

U.S. President Donald Trump has been profusely criticized for assigning his family members to official positions in his administration. A former Obama administration ethics lawyer equated adviser Ivanka Trump’s role to nepotism.

“For decades the Justice Department held yes, the nepotism statute applies to the White House,” Norman Eisen said in March, according to The Hill, supporting accusations of unjust, special treatment. (RELATED: Politics Becomes A Trump Family Business)

Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also serves as an adviser. Two of his biological sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., don’t directly serve in the White House, but act as spokesmen for their father and his initiatives.

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