Critics mock Macron for posing with ‘migrant, black, queer’ dance troupe

French President Macron’s decision to host an electro dance night at the Elysée and to pose with his wife Brigitte alongside the troupe has enraged opposition figures who say that he has degraded the presidential office, The Telegraph reported.

The DJ sported a T-shirt stating: “Son of immigrants, black, and queer,” while male dancers dresses as female prostitutes writhed around his box exhibiting their limited dance moves. The “artist” earlier said the slogan was to show his opposition to the asylum and migration bill being pushed through by Macron’s government.

Marine Le Pen tweeted “Help!” alongside a video of the the dance troupe performing sexually inviting moves on the steps of the courtyard of the Elysée palace, which is usually reserved for greeting visiting foreign heads of state.

Au secours ! 😱 MLP #FêtedelaMusique2018 https://t.co/PxqDCVH9vA

— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) June 22, 2018

But Macron’s latest take on “French culture” not only shocked Le Pen. A member of parliament from the mainstream Republicans party, also sent out a mocking tweet which included the photo of the presidential couple with the dancers inside the Elysée.“To all those who see in Macron a new (Charles) de Gaulle,” Julien Aubert tweeted.

The photo was taken by Brigitte Macron’s chief of staff and released onto social media, where it quickly drew criticism.

@CCastaner a peur et sort l’excommunication. Ce n’est pas LR qui fait la chasse aux « males blancs » ! Piège grossier. Macron aurait posé avec des cocogirls, des soubrettes japonaises ou des stripteaseuses d’Arizona que ca n’enlèverait rien au fond : il a déshonoré sa charge. https://t.co/B9rACYPjoS

— Julien Aubert (@JulienAubert84) June 23, 2018

Aubert was soon accused of being “racist and homophobic”.

The French president last week insisted on his elevated presidential status being respected when he very publicly scolded a teenager who had addressed him playfully as “Manu”, short for Emannuel.

A clip of the incident, in which Macron described the boy as an “idiot” and said he should call him “Monsieur” or “Monsieur le Président”, went viral online after the French leader posted it on his Twitter account.

But Macron himself has now demeaned the presidential status by posing with the pornographic dancers, one of whom puts an arm around the first lady for the photograph.

The dance night, featuring stars of the French electro scene, was held on Thursday as part of the annual Fete de la Musique, where bands and artists entertain audiences in the streets and bars across France.

Some 1 500 free tickets were handed out on the Elysée website. At the Palace, Macron made a late appearance with his wife and even danced along with the music himself.

Last week, Macron called nationalism and anti-migrant sentiment “leprosy” in Europe. “I’m saying to you in the gravest terms: Many hate it (Europe) but they have hated it for a long time, and now you see them (nationalists) rise, like leprosy, all around Europe, in countries where we thought that they would never reappear.”

Italy’s new Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, hit back at the French president’s insults: “We may be leper populists, but I’ll take the lessons from those who open their own ports and welcome thousands of migrants. Only then we’ll talk.

“He should give us the number of his port authority and the next 10 migrant boats can go to Marseilles.”

Italian Labour and Industry Minister and Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio on Friday also tore into the French leader: “One day he said he doesn’t want to offend Italy, the next he talks about leprosy.

“The real leprosy is the European hypocrisy of some States who push back migrants at (the French-Italian border at) Ventimiglia and then moralise about how to manage them”.

Marine Le Pen also criticised Macron’s insult in an interview on the programme 8h30 Politique. “Emmanuel Macron’s statement on ‘leprosy’ is unworthy. It insults tens of millions of Europeans and the rulers of EU countries.”

Salvini has said that the next year will be crucial for the future of the European Union.

“Within a year it will be decided whether a united Europe still exists or not,” Salvini said in an excerpt released in advance of an interview with Spiegel that is set to come out on Saturday.

He said the crucial factors will be the 2019 European elections and the negotiations for the new EU budget.

The number of Italians emigrants rose 11 percent in 2016, the OECD said in its e 2018 International Migration Outlook on Wednesday. “A growing number of Italians left the country,” the report said. “The number of Italians who declared their transfer of residence abroad increased by over 11 percent from 102 000 in 2015 to 114 000 in 2016.

“Declared emigration is likely an underestimation; estimates of the actual Italian emigration in 2016 range between 125 000 and 300 000.”