Leave it to a Socialist to try and act all high and mighty in front of a globalist community of world leaders that have as much of a spine as an invertebrate.
World leaders descended upon the Champs-Elysees and Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Sunday to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War I. French president Emmanuel Macron figured that since he was on home and European Union turf, it would be a good time to take a veiled shot at President Donald Trump when it came to globalism versus nationalism.
But, Macron didn’t use the term “globalism.” Instead, the French president gave himself another label that’s pretty hilarious.
“Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism,” Macron said. “Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism by saying: ‘Our interest first. Who cares about the others?’”
That’s pretty rich considering the U.S. gives the most financial aid of any developed country in the world. In 2015, the U.S. was listed as giving $30,765,000,000 in foreign aid, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF). By the way, that amount is nearly $20 billion more in foreign aid than France and nearly $10 billion more than second place (Germany).
Even if the U.S. cut it’s foreign aid contributions in half, the U.S. would still be in the top four on the list.
In an interview with CNN — of course — Macron classified himself as a “patriot” as compared to Trump’s assertion that he himself is a “nationalist.”
“I would say I’m a patriot,” Macron told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. “I do believe in the fact that our people are very important and having French people is different from German people.”
The second half of Macron’s statement is surprising to hear a Socialist say, but you have to keep up appearances in the face of mounting scrutiny.
You can watch Macron’s CNN comments, in full context, below:
H/T: New York Times