The Yellow Vests Expose How Fragile Emmanuel Macron’s Hold on France Really Is

In November, French President Emmanuel Macron stood under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and told world leaders on the centennial of World War I that they needed to work together to solve global problems.

Less than a month later, the French leader is trying to find the right phrase to unite his own citizens amid perhaps the worst street violence in Paris in 50 years. The gilet jaune or Yellow Vest protests that erupted in the French capital and across the country in November and December risk torpedoing Macron’s young presidency

The protests began in mid-November over an almost banal grievance: Macron’s decision to raise the tax on fuel in order to finance renewable-energy proposals. The tax would increase the price of diesel by 30¢ per gallon and regular gasoline by 17¢ per gallon, after a year in which prices have already risen by 16%. The tax is especially resented in small-town and rural areas, where more people depend on their cars and jobs are not as plentiful or well paid as in the capital.

But the protest has mushroomed into a much wider rejection of Macron and his policies, which the Yellow Vests say favor the rich. … “We do not like rich people in France,” …

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