US President Donald Trump has blamed what he described as “Islam and mass immigration” for the student-led protests sweeping France, as demonstrations entered a second consecutive week.
In a social media post, Trump claimed the unrest was the result of uncontrolled migration rather than grievances over schools.
“What is happening in France is nothing less than mass immigration completely out of control,” Trump wrote. “This is not about schools. It is about Islam wanting to take over a country that was once great.”
His comments came as hundreds of thousands of people joined demonstrations across France on Tuesday as part of a protest movement largely led by secondary school students.
France’s Interior Ministry said around 256,000 people took part nationwide, including 56,000 in Paris. Organisers put the turnout considerably higher, claiming about 450,000 demonstrators across the country and 100,000 in the capital.
Tensions between protesters and security forces have escalated as police tighten security measures around demonstrations and schools.
More than 6,000 people have reportedly been arrested since the protests began, with most of those detained described as minors.
The unrest has also become increasingly political ahead of France’s presidential election scheduled for April.
Earlier on Tuesday, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu accused the radical left of helping fuel the demonstrations and attempting to exploit the unrest for political advantage ahead of the election.
Hundreds of schools have been affected by closures and disruptions as the protest movement has spread, while authorities continue to deploy additional police in major cities.
Trump’s intervention adds an international dimension to an increasingly heated political debate in France over immigration, security and the causes of the student unrest.
