The French again jabbed the Trump administration ― this time with a clever “corrected” version of a White House video explaining why President Donald Trump is pulling America out of the Paris climate accord.
On Friday, just one day after the White House posted its video on YouTube claiming staying in the pact would cost the U.S. economy and jobs, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs posted an “edited” version with what officials said are the actual facts of the matter.
The new video changes messages like “The Paris Accord is a bad deal for America” to “Leaving the Paris Accord is a bad deal for America — and the world.”
And the ministry’s has the perfect response to the U.S. video’s claims that the pact would cost the U.S. economy 6.5 million industrial sector jobs. “Many major U.S. companies from all sectors, such as Exxon Mobile, Schneider Electric or Microsoft, disagree,” the French video says.
While the White House video claims the pact was “badly negotiated” by the Obama administration, the French version says it was “comprehensively negotiated.”
The modified video shows off a deft and clever command of the English language. The fact that it is in English is a clear attempt to communicate with Americans, and in a style very different from Trump’s.
The video comes as French President Emmanuel Macron emerges as a contender for the most captivating leader of the free world and Trump retreats to the White House, eschewing the world stage.
Macron’s televised speech Thursday quickly criticized Trump’s decision to withdraw from the accord and coined the phrase — in a clear dig at the president — to “make the planet great again.” In an unusual step for a French leader, he made his address in French and English from the Élysée Palace, the official residence of the President of France.
He also offered refuge in France to U.S. climate scientists and criticized Trump’s “error for the interests of his country, his people and a mistake for the future of our planet.”
“Don’t be mistaken on climate; there is no plan B because there is no planet B,” he added.
Macron has received global praise for standing up to Trump. The BBC published an article Saturday praising Macron’s “make our planet great again” message that was shared more than 140,000 times in 24 hours for being a “master class in communications” and describing the French leader as “that long-awaited international figure: the anti-Trump.” And the India Times hailed Macron as a “hero” for those opposing Trump’s accord decision.
Watch the “uncorrected” American version of the video in full below:
