The uproar in the French parliament over a racially tinged remark that a freshman member of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party allegedly directed at another lawmaker on Thursday simmered into Friday as President Macron’s chief political foe, Ms. Le Pen, insisted the comment was misconstrued and no more than a faux pas. 

The only certainty is that the furor that erupted at Paris — a uniquely French collision of linguistic, cultural, and political faultlines — occurred under Mr. Macron’s watch, and it spells more domestic troubles for the 44-year-old leader.

The episode also rips a new hole in the EU’s patchwork approach to illegal immigration, undercutting any semblance of continental unity on the issue. That is because what prompted the brouhaha was a plea made by a European charity group, SOS Méditerranée, to France and other countries to help it find a port for one if its ships packed with a reported 234 refugees — one of the ships that sought, and failed, to find safe harbor last week in Italy. 

Rome’s passing of the buck to Paris set the stage for a confrontation between French lawmakers of different political stripes on Thursday. Carlos Martens Bilongo of the left-wing France Unbowed party was speaking about the government’s response to the charity group’s request when Gregoire de Fournas, a newly elected member of the anti-immigrant  National Rally, interjected, “They should go back to Africa.” Howls of condemnation quickly ensued — partly because of pronouns. In French, “he” and “they” are pronounced in the same way. Many observers said Mr. de Fournas was suggesting that the French-born Mr. Bilongo, who is black, should go to Africa himself.

Immediately after the comment was made, the National Assembly speaker, Yael Braun-Pivet, demanded to know who spoke it and suspended the roisterous session. She said an investigation would attempt to establish which pronoun was used. Mr. Macron’s office said the president was “shocked” by these words and “brings his support to the parliamentarian who was insulted.” The prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, said that “racism has no place in our democracy” and urged the assembly to sanction Mr. de Fournas.  

Mr. de Fournas, who it was announced late on Friday will be  suspended from parliament for 15 days, defended his remark, telling the French television network BFM television that the National Rally wants to put a halt to all illegal immigration after a surge in the number of people trying to reach France from Africa in recent years. He apologized to Mr. Bilongo for “any misunderstanding” and rejected calls to resign. 

For Marine Le Pen,  the outrage from French left-wing parties is nothing more than political posturing by allies of Mr. Macron. The three-time presidential candidate and daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the National Front (as the National Rally was known until 2018), said on Twitter, “Grégoire de Fournas was clearly talking about migrants being transported by NGOs as evoked by our colleague in his question to the government. The controversy manufactured by our political rivals is crude and will not fool the French.”

That was on Thursday. With the heat still on her freshman parliamentarian on Friday, Ms. Le Pen attempt to deflect attention from the chaotic moment in the National Assembly by sharpening the tone: “NGO boats should drop off migrants not in Europe but in the ports of departure,” she stated, adding that the “trial” of Mr. de Fournas, as she phrased it, was “contrary to democracy and to the freedom of expression.”

Ms. Le Pen’s stance on immigration is in alignment with that of Italy’s new premier, Giorgia Meloni, who once said that Italy should “repatriate migrants back to their countries and then sink the boats that rescued them.” As prime minister, Ms. Meloni has not walked back even more searing comments about illegal immigration, some directed at Mr. Macron. The fresh drama over the issue in France comes amid pledges by Mr. Macron to crack down on illegal immigration, but it is not clear how he intends to do so. Any meaningful attempt will ultimately require the cooperation, if not outright obeisance, of the National Assembly.

The immediate fallout will be for Ms. Le Pen to sort out, though she has proven herself highly capable over the years at staying on-message. Yet the fracas throws in sharper relief the sheer range of hurdles facing Mr. Macron, whose approval ratings are dropping as crime soars in France, some linked to illegal immigration, and whose party failed to secure a parliamentary majority in national elections last June. According to French polls, Ms. Le Pen’s numbers are improving. Beyond illegal immigration, other issues will soon come to the fore, such as the energy crisis and pension reform, over which we could see Mr. Macron and Ms. Le Pen slugging it out even more. 

Most French political analysts are sure that by next spring Mr. Macron will attempt to push the retirement age for many workers to 64 from the current 62. Without a lock on the National Assembly, though, he will have to activate an obscure article of the French constitution, already bandied about in the French press as the ominous “Article 49.3,” to ram the reforms through without a vote.

Youthful idealism is something for which Macron is known, but if the president thinks he will be able to convince the French through legislative sleight of hand for another two years, he may be misreading his people. The bruises from the “yellow vest” worker  protests during his first term may pale in comparison to the political beating he could get by attempting pension reform in France, a nation whose ouvriers cherish their generous benefits, regardless of any economic stagnation that may be linked to them. 

Yet if Mr. Macron does attempt the reform, there would be little to stop Marine Le Pen and her allies from tabling a no-confidence vote in the government. That would effectively neuter Mr. Macron’s government even further, could see the resignation of the prime minister, and almost certainly trigger early elections. 

In this respect, the ruckus at Paris this week could simply be the calm before a very big storm. In the meantime, SOS Mediterranée, the NGO that runs the ship at the center of the problem, has announced that weather conditions in the Mediterranean are likely to deteriorate. As politicians at Paris spar over their Gallic version of what constitutes politically correct verbiage, hundreds of refugees are still at sea. This is one crisis with a coastline or two in sight somewhere, but as with multiplying crises elsewhere on the Continent, there is no easy resolution in view.