Macron defends his actions, eyes French presidential race

By SYLVIE CORBET
The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron said he made France’s economy stronger and sought to show he is not out-of-touch with French ordinary people in a long interview Wednesday on national television. The program appears as a bid to boost his popularity ahead of April’s presidential election. Macron, who is expected to seek a second term, has yet to formally declare his candidacy. He is under criticism from rivals in the race who say he is already campaigning  and is using his presidential status to do so. The 43-year-old centrist president answered journalists’ questions in a long pre-recorded interview to be broadcast Wednesday evening at prime time. He said “we made reforms… to get a much stronger economy… The result is here: we have the lowest unemployment rate in 15 years.”