Macron against Le Pen: the stakes of the debate

The debate between the two rounds between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron is broadcast on April 20, 2022 on TF1 and France 2. © AP/Ludovic Marin/Pool/Montage RFI

Text by: Valérie Gas Follow

3 mins

Emmanuel Macron and Marine le Pen will meet on Wednesday evening April 20 for the debate between the two rounds.

This is the moment everyone has been waiting for in a campaign that has struggled to enthrall the French.

This televised face-to-face is all the more important since it is the return match of that of 2017, which marked a turning point, leaving Marine Le Pen on the floor and propelling Emmanuel Macron to victory.

This year, if the protagonists are the same, the context and the issues have nothing to do.

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It is an outgoing president who will appear on the set of the debate between the two rounds.

And this is a determining parameter for Emmanuel Macron, whose campaign has been reduced to the bare minimum precisely because of the necessities of his presidential function.

Between 2017 and 2022, he went from the status of "

" in politics to that of head of state in office who is playing his re-election and defending his record, which Marine Le Pen will be able to attack.

A Marine Le Pen who arrives stronger than five years ago, thanks to a better score at the polls in the first round and voice reserves, but with the memory of a failed debate in 2017 after which she had to go draw on his personal and political reserves to try to obtain the rehabilitation of his image.

"The pressure is on the shoulders of Marine Le Pen"

For one as for the other, in this return match, the stakes are higher.

For Emmanuel Macron, not gaining the upper hand against Marine Le Pen would be more than a defeat, a humiliation.

For Marine Le Pen, this is perhaps the last opportunity to break the glass ceiling by appearing to the French at the height of the persona of credible and responsible candidate that she has tried to create.

An image that we dent at will in the Macron camp by explaining that "

", adds an adviser to the president-candidate.

The tone of the confrontation is given.

It will be without concession, because the two protagonists stake their future in this fight.

These are two seasoned political animals who will confront each other, a clash of personalities who embody opposing visions of France and show animosity towards each other.

He calls her " 

 ", she attacks a president disconnected from the reality of the French.

communication war

The preparation of this televised duel was meticulous in the two camps which had to agree on the decoration of the plate, the director of the emission or the choice of the journalists who will arbitrate this face-to-face.

One name crystallized the opposition, that of the presenter of the 8 p.m. news from France 2, Anne-Sophie Lapix, considered too hostile.

But in Emmanuel Macron's team, we refuse to take responsibility for this rejection, declaring: "

".

And to give as proof, the participation of the president-candidate in his newspaper announced for Thursday, April 21.

Objective: to point out the feverishness of his opponent.

The communication war began before the debate to try to take the psychological advantage against a Marine Le Pen who must prove her solidity.

Emmanuel Macron, he must avoid condescension and aggressiveness.

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• Presidential France 2022

• French politics

• Emmanuel Macron

• Marine Le Pen