French football star Kylian Mbappé called Mao Zedong a dictator, stating that he caused tens of millions of deaths and that his regime was totalitarian in nature. French public opinion views this as a statement of fact rather than a personal opinion. [Follow-up · October 28, 2026] On the evening of October 28, Marine Tondelier, National Secretary of the French Green Party, posted on X, stating that Mbappé's characterization of Mao Zedong as a dictator is historically grounded, and criticized France's repeated submission to China's economic pressure as a sign of weakness.