Jacline Mouraud

Jacline Mouraud (born 24 April 1967) is a French activist credited as being one of the founders of the yellow vest movement. She rose to national attention as a result of a viral Facebook video she posted in October 2018 about France's proposed eco-tax to which she was opposed. Mouraud quickly found herself on regional and national television debating French MPs. Mouraud slowly became a divisive figure in the movement, being criticized by other yellow vest activists including Priscilla Ludosky and Eric Drouet, and the French media who have accused her of sharing of "fake news".

Despite having previously stated she was apolitical, Mouraud created Les Émergents (English: The Rising) in January 2019 with the intention of running candidates to run in France's local elections in 2020. The party was to be neither left nor right, and Mouraud did not necessarily see herself as being included on the candidate list.

Mouraud is a proponent of pseudosciences. When the yellow vest movement started in November 2018, she primarily made a living as a "hypnotherapist, metapsychist, and parapsychologist ". She has operated a paranormal and ectoplasm center since 2013 in Morbihan. She is also a composer and accordion player, who has played in dance halls, music venues and music festivals.

Yellow vest movement According to The Guardian, Mouraud has been "widely credited with starting the yellow vests movement" . Mouraud visibility in the movement came as a surprise to her and others. Her involvement in the movement began in October 2018 when she posted a Facebook video that went viral about France's proposed eco-tax to which she was opposed. The video was 4 minutes and 38 seconds in length, and has over 6 million views. In early December, she was part of a delegation of yellow vest protesters who met with France's Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. She later backed away from protests, instead preferring to see what she saw as a political solution to France's problems.

Mouraud was criticized by Priscilla Ludosky and Eric Drouet in mid-January 2019 of being in the movement in order to hijack it for her own personal and political ambitions. The media has also been highly critical of Mouraud for her comments about the paranormal and ectoplasm. Some of the criticism is a result of her sharing of "fake news", for which she has been called out for by media organizations such as 20 minutes.

Les Émergents Early on, as part of Mouraud's involvement in what eventually became the yellow vest movement, she claimed to be apolitical. In October 2018, she claimed this because of her belief that all politicians were corrupt. She has seen her purpose as to bring joy to people through music. She has worked in dance halls and music venues. In 2014, Mouraud received extensive local news coverage after creating a composition for a proposed new French national anthem. She attended Ecole Saint Gildas in Marzan from 1970 to 1978. She next attended College Saint Joseph La Roche-Bernard from 1978 to 1982. After that she attended Lycée Aristide Briand in Saint Nazaire from 1982 to 1986.

Mouraud is a hypnotherapist, metapsychist, and parapsychologist. In 2013, she opened a paranormal and ectoplasm center with a friend. In 2018, she was working in Morbihan as a hypnotherapist. Sessions she conducts include helping to get people to stop smoking. She is also an accordion player who has played in dance halls, music venues and music festivals.

Mouraud has three grown children and is divorced. Mouraud had a partner who helped support her in 2018.