(Paris) A traditional song shortly after his speech… Emmanuel Macron was filmed Monday evening singing in the middle of the street in the company of passers-by, a surprising scene as the French head of state tries to get out of the crisis linked to the reform of the retreats, which dented its popularity.

The video was released by an organization which, according to the daily Liberation, would have links with the far right, but the French president did not know the identity of the other singers, according to his entourage.

The scene seems surreal to the point that many Internet users imagine a montage or a “deepfake”.

Monday evening, shortly after his first speech after the promulgation of the highly contested pension reform, Emmanuel Macron sings Le Refuge, by Edmond Duplan, a traditional song from the Pyrenees region (south-west of France), in full street, not far from the Montparnasse tower.

“After his speech, the President of the Republic took a moment with his wife. They were arrested by a group of young people singing […] He then joined them for a Pyrenean song that he likes and knows”, reacted Tuesday the entourage of the Head of State, requested by the AFP.

“He couldn’t know at that time the background of every person he was talking to,” the source insisted.

A first video showing the scene was posted shortly after midnight on the “Project Canto” Facebook page, the storefront of an eponymous singing organization and app, with the caption: “There’s only the Mafia and Project Canto to blackmail a head of state”.

The association defines itself on its site as a defender of heritage, saving popular songs in digital format.

However, an investigation by the daily Liberation published in 2022 singled out the association, claiming that it had been founded and led by far-right activists, and that the application listed, among other things, nationalist songs or songs associated with the Third Reich. .

“Political singing is part of the history of singing, it is as such that it is listed. Some are related to the far right, others to the far left […] our choice is simply to list all the popular songs, ”the association then replied to Liberation.

In another video appearing to show the beginning of the scene, relayed on Tuesday by a journalist from Current Values, we see the head of state apostrophized. “Do you want to come with us to sing?” asks one of the people.

The scene cuts, then we see Emmanuel Macron asking “how do you know this song? “, before someone suggests singing Le Refuge.

“Come on, give me a verse from the Refuge,” replies the president, who had already sung it during a trip to the Hautes-Pyrénées in 2022.