Talk about not letting something go. Minutes after the French President’s address to Congress on Wednesday, MSNBC sourly reminded Americans of the House’s efforts to rename french fries in 2003. After that, host Stephanie Ruhle gushed over the liberal Emmanuel Macron: “Isn't Macron clearly angling to be the world leader? President Trump has made it clear America first, America alone. And we're sort of all looking around saying who's the voice? Does it seem like he's the one that wants to be it?”
Despite the friendliness of Macron and Trump, NBC Pentagon Correspondent Hans Nichols saw the speech as a “a subtle rebuke from the French president against the president that he spent the last two days embracing.” He then reached back to 2003 and “freedom fries”:
Just real quick, when [Macron] turned around there and shook hands with Mike Pence and Paul Ryan, those are congressmen that 15 years ago when the Republicans controlled the House, beneath the well of the chamber, that's where there's a cafeteria. And in that cafeteria, they changed french fries to freedom fries.
Both Pence and Ryan were part of that movement. It's remarkable to see a French president in the well of the United States representatives getting standing ovations for talking about European regulation of Facebook. It's clear that Macron brought the crowd along with him whether or not he'll be able to move the substance is a different question.
It’s somewhat odd to blame Pence and Ryan for “freedom fries.” Ex-Congressman Bob Ney of Ohio and Walter B. Jones of North Carolina directed the House cafeteria on March 11, 2003 to change the name. Ryan and Pence may have spoken out at some point on the effort, but a Google search doesn’t turn anything up. Seems rather sloppy of Nichols to blame everyone.
Nichols maintained that, though Macron is friendly with Trump, the French President “needs to maintain his credibility behind the international world order that has established the rules of the road.”
A partial transcript is below. Click "expand" to read more:
MSNBC Live
4/25/18
11:40EMMANUEL MACRON: The United States and the American people are an essential part of our confidence in the future, in democracy, in what women and men can accomplish in this world when we are driven by high ideals and an unbreakable trust in humanity and progress. Today, the call we hear is the call of history. This is a time of determination and courage. What we cherish is at stake. What we love is in danger. We have no choice but to prevail. And together we shall prevail. Long live the friendship between France and the United States of America.
11:43
HANS NICHOLS: That was a subtle rebuke from the French president against the president that he spent the last two days embracing. The first part of the speech was a ringing endorsement of the international world order that Donald Trump in some ways is seeking to dismantle. It's clear that Macron is on the internationalist swing. He was railing against globalism at several stages. To get at the subtlety of what Macron was going, he argued against commercial wars, that's code for trade wars. And then he had specific points where he is clearly departing from the President he is trying to convince.
Made it very clear that France will stay in the Iran nuclear agreement, and made it hopeful that the U.S. would rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement which the president has hinted at but never said anything firmly on. Just real quick, when he turned around there and shook hands with Mike Pence and Paul Ryan, those are congressmen that 15 years ago when the Republicans controlled the House, beneath the well of the chamber, that's where there's a cafeteria. And in that cafeteria, they changed french fries to freedom fries. Both Pence and Ryan were part of that movement. It's remarkable to see a French president in the well of the United States representatives getting standing ovations for talking about European regulation of Facebook. It's clear that Macron brought the crowd along with him whether or not he'll be able to move the substance is a different question.
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Even if he can't right now, isn't Macron clearly angling to be the world leader? President Trump has made it clear America first, America alone. And we're sort of all looking around saying who's the voice? Does it seem like he's the one that wants to be it?
NICHOLS: He's angling his ability to preserve influence in both camps. He clearly wants to preserve and protect his ability to influence the president. That's why you saw yesterday and the day before the public bromance between these two leaders. He also needs to maintain his credibility behind the international world order that has established the rules of the road, whether or not it’s NATO or the United Nations.
This is his base back home. What you're seeing is — His English is excellent and should be complimented. He's trying to translate both Europe for America but also when he goes home, you could get a sense he's going to try to translate what Trump is talking about in terms of nationalism and in terms of the forces buffeting the middle class, trying to translate it for the French audience, the European audience as well. He's a president with a foot in two worlds and he's trying to straddle them. Whether or not he can bring them together is the challenge of Macron and, indeed, the modern era.
