Without saying so, France’s Macron launching re-election bid

By JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press

LE PECQ, France (AP) — A prime-time address to the nation by French President Emmanuel Macron sounded very much like the launch of a re-election campaign. The 27—minute speech was delivered against a backdrop of the red-white-and-blue tricolor flag and an embossed seal of the French Republic. Macron swept back over France’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic, pitched forward to the process of economic recovery and spoke encouragingly of French strengths. He didn’t say that he would be a candidate in the presidential election in April. But his opponents interpreted it that way and the signs are pointing stronger than ever in that direction.