The President of the United States, Donald Trump, claims that the student mobilizations shaking France since the end of last month do not respond to an educational conflict, but to what he considers an Islamic invasion facilitated by the laxity of the country's immigration policies.
In a message disseminated on his social networks, Trump stated that "What is happening in France is nothing more than uncontrolled mass migration." In his view, the students' claims are unrelated to the real origin of the disturbances.
The American president insisted that the marches are not explained by the situation of educational institutions, but by a supposed religious offensive on French territory. "This is not about schools. It is about Islam trying to take over a country that, in its day, was great," he concluded.
The response from France came immediately from the leader of La France Insoumise, Jean Luc Mélenchon, who urged the American president to stop being guided by the vision of the French right and, specifically, by that of Marine Le Pen, his political ally.
"Trump should be warned that Mrs. Le Pen is providing a fantastic narrative about the causes of violence in France," declared Mélenchon. According to the leftist leader, "As we have seen today in Paris and in several cities in France, it is a police force that no one controls anymore that provokes, attacks, injures, and mutilates the young protesters and the union members who came to protect them."
The protests, which remained active this Monday, have so far resulted in at least 215 students and about 85 teachers injured, in addition to 715 police officers injured. The Ministry of the Interior also reports 6,059 participants arrested and more than 5,000 people detained, mostly minors.
High school students denounce the serious deterioration of the French educational system, with a lack of teachers, overcrowded classrooms, excessively long days, and centers with increasingly degraded infrastructures.