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France's President Macron tells French to stop moaning

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/10/05/macron.jpg"/><figcaption>French President Emmanuel Macron. Reuters/File</figcaption></figure></div>COLOMBEY-LES-DEUX-EGLISES, France -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday urged his compatriots to moan less, saying the country would be better off if they emulated wartime leader Charles de Gaulle.Macron, on a visit to this northeastern village that is also the home and burial place of the former president, made his comments after speaking to a pensioner who complained he only had a small pension.&quot;The grandson of the general (Charles de Gaulle) told me a little while ago&quot; that his grandfather&#x27;s rule was: &quot;You can speak freely, the only thing we should not do is to complain.&quot;&quot;I think that the general had the right idea. The country would be different if everyone did the same,&quot; Macron said.&quot;We don&#x27;t realize how lucky we are. We are seeing more and more elderly people in our country in good health,&quot; he added.Reacting on Twitter, leader of France&#x27;s far-right National Rally -- formerly the National Front -- Marine Le Pen, wrote: &quot;Those who complain don&#x27;t do it just for the fun of it but because they are the victims of non-stop tax rises and endemic insecurity.&quot; Marcon&#x27;s comments came a week after the government unveiled billions of euros in tax relief for businesses and households, alongside more budget cuts.Pensions and welfare benefits will be shaved further in the 2019 budget -- Macron complained in June that France spends &quot;a crazy amount of dough&quot; on social programs.In August, he also came under attack from the opposition after he described the French as &quot;Gauls who are resistant to change&quot; during a trip to Denmark.Macron made the comments in an exchange with French expatriates in the Scandinavian country, which he admires for its economic model that mixes a strong social security system with rules allowing companies to easily fire workers.<div> © Agence France-Presse</div>

Macron, on a visit to this northeastern village that is also the home and burial place of the former president, made his comments after speaking to a pensioner who complained he only had a small pension.

Macron, on a visit to this northeastern village that is also the home and burial place of the former president, made his comments after speaking to a pensioner who complained he only had a small pension.