Macron swears during angry exchange with heckling crowd while visiting cyclone-battered Mayotte

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy French president Emmanuel Macron has sworn during an exchange as he was heckled by angry residents of a Mayotte neighbourhood ravaged by cyclone Chido, telling them: “If it wasn’t for France, you’d be 10,000 times deeper in s***”. In the past, Mr Macron has often got in trouble with off-the-cuff remarks in public that he says are meant to "tell it like it is", but have often come across as insensitive or condescending to many French people and contributed to the sharp drop in his popularity over his seven years as president. The French president had already faced heckles the previous evening from a crowd who had chanted for his resignation and accused his government of neglecting Mayotte, which is located around 5,000 miles from mainland France. "Everything has been put in place to allow the distribution of 600,000 litres of water per day, or two litres per Mayotte resident," he said on X.