French presidential: remote duel between Le Pen and Zemmour
Marine Le Pen, the candidate for the national rally (RN) and Éric Zemmour, the candidate for Reconquête!.
© Montaje RFI/ Photos AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
This Saturday, February 5, Éric Zemmour was in the North, a region where his rival from the National Rally (RN) usually scores well.
Marine Le Pen, too, was in a meeting this Saturday in Reims.
The two far-right candidates tried to install a dynamic in their favor.
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It was his first campaign rally.
Marine Le Pen has mobilized her troops in Reims.
In front of more than 3,000 elected officials, activists and supporters, the candidate of the National Rally presented her project 63 days before the first round of the presidential election.
His rival Éric Zemmour was in a meeting 200 kilometers away with around 6,000 people.
But Marine Le Pen preferred to ignore it and target Emmanuel Macron, underlines our special
correspondent Julien Chavanne.
Not once will she have said his name.
Marine Le Pen will have carefully avoided talking about Éric Zemmour.
Her blows, she reserved them almost exclusively for Emmanuel Macron: "
Emmanuel Macron is not only contemptuous, he is depressing
"
Jostled inside, humiliated outside, France tumbles in the ranking of powers weakened by the errors, the vaunted and the cynicism of Emmanuel Macron.
Marine Le Pen, candidate for the National Rally
Julien Chavanne
A target, the outgoing president, and political allies across Europe: from Matteo Salvini, in Italy, to
Viktor Orban
, the Hungarian Prime Minister, to establish his credibility.
Marine Le Pen talks about herself
Change of tone after an hour of speech.
Marine Le Pen leaves her desk, walks towards the crowd, to talk about herself, the attack on her father when she was 8 years old and her family.
“
You know, I experienced political violence when I was a little girl.
At school.
They made me pay for my father's commitment.
And then I quickly became a mother to a large family.
Quick.
Three children in less than a year.
I know the psychological difficulty it represents to be at the same time the father and the mother.
»
Marine Le Pen plays the personal card like never before.
An unprecedented attempt to distance his opponents.
Éric Zemmour praises the "France that works"
Meanwhile in Lille, Éric Zemmour, the other far-right candidate, devoted his meeting to praising “
France that works
” and talking about purchasing power.
It is on this theme dear to the right and to the left, that the candidate of Reconquête!
decided to insist even if his favorite themes are never far away, reports our special correspondent,
Pierre Olivier.
On the underprivileged lands of northern France, Éric Zemmour's promise was clear: talk about wages and taxation.
“
All the candidates keep repeating that they are “the” purchasing power candidate.
Yes, I've been listening to them for weeks, and in reality, from right to left, they're all saying the same thing: they're not saying anything.
»
Éric Zemmour unfolds his proposals, attacks Valérie Pécresse, and Emmanuel Macron, on purchasing power therefore.
But quickly, his migratory obsession returns at a gallop: "
Do you know that in addition to free accommodation, we give each asylum seeker for nearly a year a bank card credited with 430 euros per month so that can spend your tax money quietly
?
»
Galvanized in front of more than 6,000 people, Éric Zemmour flatters his audience, without ever mentioning Marine le Pen.
“
RSA, family allowances, housing assistance.
It is no longer acceptable for your payslip to finance the assistantship of foreigners.
»
Mix purchasing power and immigration, a cocktail skillfully dosed by Éric Zemmour to try to seduce new voters, on these lands usually acquired by Marine le Pen.
I'll tell you something my friends, magic money doesn't exist.
Public money, theoretical money, free money, their beautiful promises, all that does not exist.
They are buying you with your own money.
Éric Zemmour, Reconquest candidate!
Pierre Olivier
A final poll again gives Marine Le Pen neck and neck with Éric Zemmour while the campaign is still hanging on the announcement of Emmanuel Macron's candidacy.
►
To read also: French Presidential: Marine Le Pen behind Éric Zemmour in the hunt for sponsorships
Willingness to "sabotage" Marine Le Pen's campaign
For Jordan Bardella, the president of the RN, Éric Zemmour has the will to sabotage the campaign of Marine Le Pen.
There is a desire in Éric Zemmour, an obsession to interfere with Marine Le Pen's campaign.
He never speaks of Emmanuel Macron.
Our adversary is Emmanuel Macron, not Éric Zemmour, who I hope will call for a vote for Marine Le Pen in the second round if he is a sincere patriot, which I believe.
Jordan Bardella, President of the National Rally
Julien Chavanne
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France
Presidential France 2022
Marine Le Pen
Eric Zemmour