Europe 1 with AFP 10:06 p.m., April 4, 2022
In an interview given to several regional dailies of the Ebra group, Emmanuel Macron took the side of his opponent in the presidential campaign, Marine Le Pen.
According to the outgoing president, this party "is not a Rally", but "a clan" active since the 1960s, of which the president would be the heiress.
Candidate Emmanuel Macron considered Monday that Marine Le Pen's party "is not a Rally", referring the far-right leader to "a lady who is the heiress of a clan", in an interview given to the regional daily newspapers of the Ebra group.
"We must say things: we are talking about a lady who is the heiress of a clan, who has been in the presidential elections since the 1960s", attacks the outgoing president.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, the father of the National Rally candidate, was a presidential candidate for the first time in 1974 after having been a deputy in the 1950s. "It's not a Rassemblement, it's a clan" , insists Emmanuel Macron again.
"We are in a collapse of consciousness"
"This clan dares to speak of 'Africanization' of France, and that does not shock anyone? We are in a world where we can say the worst atrocities without contradicting, without anyone to say that it is false", still laments the contender for his re-election, favorite in the polls but now closely followed by Marine Le Pen.
"We are in a collapse of consciences... I have never forgotten this sentence of [Léon] Blum, at the beginning of the [Second] war [world]: 'I saw suddenly the spirits dissolve.'
When I listen to certain debates, that's what I hear, a form of dissolution of consciences", continues Emmanuel Macron, who calls to "fight, with a critical spirit, the relationship to the truth which allows a debate democratic, republican".
The outgoing head of state, who claims to "not like political correctness" and advocates "the confrontation of ideas, with respect", claims to have "never moralized the voters of the National Front", the former name of the National Rally, which he says he uses "on purpose", not being "not fooled by the ripolinage".
Talk to RN supporters
"I fight the leaders, but I want to continue to speak to our compatriots attracted by this vote. Firstly because I am the president of all French people and because I want to tell them that I have answers to their fears, [...] on security [...] and on purchasing power", he further argues.
Asked about the legislative elections, the outgoing president recalls his wish for the introduction of a dose of proportional representation, calling for "finding ways to better involve the people on a regular basis".
"Perhaps we should review the rhythm of our legislative elections, re-examine the question of the articulation between the presidential and the legislative elections", further suggests the candidate.