Macron blasts ‘stupid’ claims by Trump, others blaming Muslims migrants for riots

PARIS -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday blamed “foreign leaders,” including those “on the other side of the Atlantic,” for trying to exploit France's tense social climate for their own political agenda.Protests over soaring living costs have led to widespread rioting and looting. U.S. President Donald Trump has used the violence to rally his political supporters, making unsubstantiated claims that Muslim migrants are responsible for the unrest.Trump has urged Macron to “close your borders and take control before it is too late!”Macron responded by saying there “has been foreign manipulation of information in the aftermath” of the looting in Paris and other French cities last weekend.“And that has led to comments that are as unacceptable as they are stupid, from many people, including foreign leaders,” he said. Asked by a reporter if he was referring to Trump, Macron replied: “Among others.” Macron added: “We’ve seen AI-generated images depicting scenes that never actually happened in France. We’ve had people claiming that we were invaded by hordes of migrants and Islamists, which is completely false.”Macron did not specify which AI-generated images he was referring t...