Macron’s France now fact-checking Trump White House as part of Twitter trolling
Macron's Foreign Ministry tweeted a debunk video Friday which both refutes and ridicules Trump’s reasoning for withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, the latest escalation in the unique social media diplomacy taking place between the two leaders.
On Thursday, the White House echoed Trump's comments about leaving the deal almost verbatim, saying: "The Paris Accord is a bad deal for Americans."
The Paris Accord is a bad deal for Americans, and @POTUS' action today is keeping his promise to put American workers first. pic.twitter.com/YfbnaymerP
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 1, 2017
The embedded video admonished the "bad deal" negotiated by former President Barack Obama while hitting on Trump's main talking points of employment and US competitiveness in the global market as reasons for reneging on the deal.
In the tongue-in-cheek response from the French Foreign Ministry social media team, they repeated Macron's newly coined #MakeOurPlanetGreatAgain slogan in a rather flagrant middle finger to Trump’s populist slogan.
'Make our planet great again': Macron leads Trump trolling after Paris climate deal withdrawal https://t.co/ulfsZSNstYpic.twitter.com/4MycvFtu5j
— RT (@RT_com) June 3, 2017
In what is fast becoming a trademark of Macron's newly-minted administration, France's new president is giving Trump a taste of his own medicine with some tasteful trolling on Twitter.
We’ve seen the @WhiteHouse video about the #ParisAccord. We disagree – so we’ve changed it. #MakeThePlanetGreatAgain. pic.twitter.com/8A92MBwe6c
— France Diplomacy🇫🇷 (@francediplo_EN) June 2, 2017
Macron's calculated decision to communicate in English has made him stand out on the world stage and helped his message resonate with a wider audience.
French politicians and leaders have traditionally only communicated in their native tongue when making public appearances, with few exceptions.
If Macron's social media performance thus far (his #MakeOurPlanetGreatAgain tweet has already clocked up 231,000 retweets and 380,000 likes) is any indicator of his potential as a modern leader, Trump may have met his match.