"In a certain way, the Gilets Jaunes were very good for me, because it reminded me who I should be," Macron said in an interview to the TIME magazine.
Thousands of people taking to the streets to protest against cuts of social benefits, raise of fuel prices and abolition of wealth tax is nothing but a regular reaction of middle class and working class in democracies, the French president said.
"My challenge is to listen to people much better than I did at the very beginning," he added, when reminded of video footage where he tells a young protester to "cross the street and find job."
The wave of Yellow Vests rallies started in mid-November 2018 and soon marred the entire country with the epicentre in Paris. Among many anti-government slogans and placards, harsh criticism could frequently be seen and heard against Macron himself.