To be fair Macron was merely repeating the standard progressive line that border controls are racist, as typified by the exchange between the German non-governmental organization Mission Lifeline and Italian authorities when Rome turned away hundreds of refugees it was bringing to its ports. “Mission Lifeline retweeted the Italian minister’s statement with a sarcastic comment: ‘When Fascists give us publicity…'” to which the Ministry of the Interior responded, “we are the bosses in our own home, the good times [for you] are REALLY OVER, understood?”

Leftists branding officials fascists is not new, but officials answering back is. The novelty and force of the Italian riposte was such that Macron signaled a willingness to yield ground. The French president endorsed the establishment of overseas holding camps for refugees, a measure which many European leftists have traditionally denounced as capitalistically heartless.