Macron stands next to Putin and calls him out on fake news and gay rights

Newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron knows a thing or two about Russian hacking. During the run up to Macron’s election, Vladimir Putin‘s operatives were meddling in the race much like they did in the U.S.

This time, the Russians failed, and the ring-wing candidate Marie La Pen was defeated. But Russia’s meddling was on the forefront of Macron’s mind when he met Putin at the Palace of Versailles this Monday.

After a private meeting, the two stood at their respective podiums before the press where Macron accused Russian state media of running disinformation campaigns. He specifically called out two outlets: Sputnik and Russia Today, more commonly known as RT. Macron went to explain that this is why the outlets were banned from his campaign headquarters during the race.

From the New York Post:

Speaking in remarkably frank terms about Sputnik and Russia Today, Macon said the two organizations “did not behave like press outlets, but behaved like agents of influence and propaganda” that spread “serious falsehoods.”

“I will never give in to that,” Macron reportedly said.

Macron also hit Putin over Russia’s atrocious record on civil rights for LGBT people and Chechnya’s alleged arresting, torture, and even murder of gay citizens.

“We spoke about the cases of LGBT people in Chechnya… I told President Putin what France is expecting regarding this issue, and we agreed to regularly check on this subject,” Macron said, according to CNN.

Featured image via YouTube

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.