“The French junta”: Nathalie Yamb mocks France’s crisis and turns Paris’s Sahel rhetoric against it

Nathalie Yamb mocked France’s crisis by imitating travel-security warnings and advising AES nationals against travelling to France. She satirically called French leaders a “junta” and accused the state of violating human rights, echoing what she says is the language used to describe violence in the Sahel. Her remarks followed protests over the cost of living and purchasing power, which drew between 550,000 and 800,000 people across France over the weekend of October 17, 2026, and escalated into violence, with more than 1,200 arrests and hundreds injured. Sébastien Lecornu’s government called for partial, localized curfews in several affected areas.