Emmanuel Macron came under fire for the catastrophic plunge in domestic poll numbers during an interview by Fox News ahead of his highly-anticipated meeting with US President Donald Trump.
French President Emmanuel Macron struggled to defend his collapsing support, after polls revealed that he has lost more than a third of his support in a year.
Chris Wallace of Fox News challenged the French leader on his plunging poll ratings during an interview released this afternoon, ahead of his trip to the US.
The reporter refused to pull any punches, dedicating a significant part of the interview to the devastating scale of riots and strikes seen in
France under Mr Macron's reign.
Furious protests are regularly held against French Government's reforms, with up to 200,000 people attending some marches.
These protests have often spilled over into violence and riots, including tense clashes with police.
On this, Mr Macron said: "If I stop here, because of some protests, they are legitimate but in a minority, then I will never be able to reform again."
Wallace followed this up: "Your popularity is falling. You were elected with 66 percent of the vote.
"The latest polls show that 58 percent of French people disapprove of your presidency, with only 40 percent approval rates."
The French president responded: "If you follow the polls, you never reform, you never fix the situation, you never transform.
"You are always obsessed with following where you want to go. I will look at the polls in due time, not now."
During the interview, Wallace also asked Mr Macron whether he thought of himself as royalty, saying: "You have even said that France to some degree in still monarchy - is that how you see your role?" which Mr Macron swiftly denied.
He told Fox News that there was no 'Plan B' to Iran, as he warned Donald Trump against pulling out of the Iranian nuclear deal.
Mr Macron went onto claim that if the US pulls out of the deal, a North Korean-type situation could develop.
The president added the United States, France and other allies will have a “very important” role to play in rebuilding Syria after they defeat Islamic State militants.
The visit, to celebrate nearly 250 years of US-French relations, will be headlined by a White House state dinner on Tuesday.