France’s Macron says leaders shouldn’t ‘abandon their values’ in the face of bad polls [Video]

While French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledges that he — like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — is facing sliding poll numbers and pressure from the political right, he says this is no time for national leaders to abandon their “principles.”

In a wide-ranging interview with CBC News and Radio-Canada last week in Ottawa, before his meeting with Trudeau, Macron said “tough times” are part of the job.

“In political life, in our love life and in life in general, there are times that are not too easy. There are tough times, but that doesn’t mean we have to turn our back on everything and forget about our principles and our ideas,” he told CBC News chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton and Radio-Canada parliamentary bureau chief Louis Blouin.

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