Emmanuel Macron’s popularity has plunged to a new low (Image: Getty)
has suffered a fresh blow after his approval ratings tanked to the lowest since his presidency began in 2017.
An Ifop poll for Le Journal du Dimanche revealed that just 21% of French voters were happy with — the lowest in seven years and the second-lowest in modern French history.
The poll also found that Mr Macron lost the support of a key part of the electorate that was crucial in his 2022 victory — pensioners.
His aides also claimed Mr Macron was feeling “sad” and isolated after July’s snap election in which he lost a parliamentary majority and many executive powers.
A former aide told : “I just don’t see how he can bounce back, there’s no clear path. The ambience in the Elysée is morose.”
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Mr Macron’s latest move to win over ordinary French people spectacularly backfired after he engaged with an Islamic fundamentalist on .
The French president responded to S4iintt, after getting a €90 (£75) fine for using Apple Pay to pay a toll.
Mr Macron agreed with the young man’s frustration and promised, alongside the to allow drivers to pay tolls with their phones.
S4iintt has advocated for Islamic veils on seven-year-old children, called the president a “dwarf married to his French teacher”, and said France was a “country the size of a potato crisp”.
A source added: “He should care less about and more about his country’s economic decline.
“Macron has presided over mounting debt since 2017 and as a result can no longer have a serious and credible conversation in Berlin, Brussels or elsewhere.
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“There is a link with the political because there has been a hiring freeze since last July due to the lack of visibility.
“All the supply-side policies Macron succeeded in putting in place in his first term are unravelling. France was the most attractive for investment in Europe. Now it’s going the other way. It used to call the shots in Europe. Now it’s shooting itself in the foot.”
Another aide told French broadcaster BFMTV that the — a French word for existential dread.
The aide said: “When you’re in a tough period and people who were very present are no longer there. He sees fewer people. There can be disappointments, a form of sadness. He’s a man like any other.”