Macron's massive fall from grace is perfectly encapsulated in the video of him humiliating a schoolboy

Lip-quivering reactionaries – and there are many in France – praised the French president for his uncompromising stand about 'respect'. In fact, the word is frequently used as a euphemism for unthinking deference in the country

Social media shaming is now an inescapable part of modern life, but there was still widespread surprise at Emmanuel Macron’s use of his personal Twitter account to humiliate a schoolboy this week.

The unnamed youngster features in a posted video in which he greets France’s head of state with the words: “All right, Manu?”

Using an affectionate abbreviation of a politician’s first name is likely to be considered entirely acceptable in countries such Britain and the US (“How’s it going, Tess?”, “What’s up, Don?”) but not so in a place where the president still affects quasi-monarchical status.

“Mr President or Sir to you,” is the gist of Macron’s filmed response to the boy, who was also variously described as an imbecile, a revolutionary and a jumped-up little leftie who needed to pass his exams and learn how to earn a living before attempting any cheeky comments.

Lip-quivering reactionaries – and there are many in France – praised Macron for his uncompromising stand. The encounter took place at an event commemorating World War Two resistance and, the politician claimed, those who fought for freedom would have expected nothing less than solemn “respect” for a direct successor of General Charles de Gaulle.

In fact, the word “respect” is frequently used as a euphemism for unthinking deference in France. The few French who actually did take up arms against the Nazis were by definition fiercely anti-establishment. They included revolutionary communists and plenty of others who were disgusted that their sheepish fellow citizens had collaborated so easily with German occupiers.

What a sad indictment too of the still stiflingly conformist nature of establishment France that an allegedly progressive politician is using myths to support his hypocrisy.

Macron won power last year as a dissenting force who had taken on the status quo. He crushed the sleazy, criminalised Gaullist conservatives and the woefully unpopular Socialists, many of them from the “gauche caviar” (the “caviar left”, the French equivalent of champagne socialists) who never practised what they preached.

As a 30-something independent, Macron portrayed himself as a dynamic idealist the young could look up to. All knew about his rebellious teenage years in his hometown of Amiens, and particularly the way he had an affair with a married teacher and mother-of-three 25 years older than him. He faced up to finger-wagging and worse from those who tried to shame both him and Brigitte Auzière, who is now his wife and first lady. The young Manu was a flamboyant high school actor in those days – somebody who revelled in passion, adventure and art.

As recently as March this year, Macron encouraged Indian students to “never respect the rules”, while during a trip to America a month later he told an audience at George Washington University: “Let’s disrupt the system together.” He even used coarse words usually ignored by politicians, such as “bulls**t”, presenting himself as a modern man of the people who never shied away from contemporary mores.

In contrast, Macron’s treatment of the schoolboy on home turf at Mont Valérien, the fortress in the Paris suburbs where Resistance fighters were executed, was a big step backwards. He even deployed the familiar “tu” form, rather than the more appropriate “vous”, to admonish the alleged miscreant, so piling on his contempt in a uniquely cruel Gallic manner.

Rather than an authoritative leader, Macron came across as petty and spiteful. This says everything about the way absolute power in France can turn the most enlightened politician into a pompous prig.

Even now, Macron is being pilloried for employment reforms that have seen hundreds of thousands taking to the streets at what they see as an assault on hardwon rights, and an endorsement of greedy bosses. Youngsters in their late teens and twenties who have never had a job are especially furious with him. Just as significantly, the president is being criticised for a seemingly vindictive immigration policy that threatens to see a huge number of asylum seekers turned away and refugees already in France deported.

Beyond the politics, the boy in the video has taken it all particularly badly. According to classmates, he has locked himself in his bedroom at home, while refusing to engage with family or friends, let alone the authority figures who will play such an important part in his future. He fears that the massively publicised incident will have a negative effect on his schoolwork, and indeed any chance of a decent career.

By crushing one so young in the full glare of the media, Macron has exposed an unpleasant side of a republic that is meant to champion new ideas and debate. For this alone, France’s president should be thoroughly ashamed of himself.