PARIS, April 8 – French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday accused his far-right challenger Marine Le Pen of lying to voters about her “racist” platform as he tried to rally support, two days before the first round the presidential elections.
The race appears to be closing in on the two finalists of the 2017 election, and while Macron has so far steered clear of any direct debate, the two increasingly took aim at each other from afar – and did so without mincing words on Friday.
“There was a clear strategy (from the Le Pen camp) to hide the brutality in their program,” Macron said in an interview with Le Parisien published on Friday.
“Its fundamentals have not changed: it is a racist program aimed at dividing society and it is very brutal.”
Le Pen told Franceinfo that she was “shocked” by the accusation, which she denied, branding the president “feverish” and “aggressive”.
She said her programme, which includes adding a “national priority principle” to the French constitution, would not discriminate against people based on their origin – as long as they hold a French passport.
MOMENTUM
Macron is ahead in opinion polls, which still see him as the most likely winner, but his re-election is no longer a foregone conclusion. Le Pen’s solid comeback in opinion polls has seen her win within error in some polls.
Le Pen has focused her bid on purchasing power, softened her image and tapped into voters’ key concerns by pledging to cut taxes and increase some welfare benefits, worrying financial markets as she gains momentum in the polls. Continue reading
Rival far-right candidate Eric Zemmour’s radical, outspoken views have helped her appear more mainstream, and many left-leaning voters have told pollsters they would not vote in the second round, unlike in 2017, to keep Le Pen out of power .
“They’re not necessarily going to vote for Marine Le Pen, but they don’t want to vote for Emmanuel Macron,” said Jean-David Levy, deputy director of polling firm Harris Interactive.
“Marine Le Pen has never been so capable of winning a presidential election”
Around a third of voters have yet to make up their minds, according to opinion polls, which analysts say often favors candidates with realistic chances of entering the second round, as undecided voters tend to opt for what gives the French a “useful vote”. call voting strategically.
Unlike Macron and Le Pen, this trend will favor far-left veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon, who – also rising – comes in third place with around 17% of the predicted votes.
On Thursday, the left Christiane Taubira, a former minister who dropped out of the running after failing in her attempt to rally the left behind her, backed Melenchon and said he was now the left’s best hope.
Macron on Friday regretted starting the race late and said he had no other choice because of the war in Ukraine.
On his last day before the first vote, Macron focused on younger voters campaigning in Paris and an evening interview with a social media news outlet.
“The idea is to show that the youth are behind the president and that he manages to create a dynamic that allows voters on the right to continue electing him (…) without the voters on the left side against him,” said Harris Interactive executive director Jean-David Levy.
French choice TAKE-A-LOOK:
Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and the Paris Newsroom, writing by Ingrid Melander and Tassilo Hummel, editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Nick Macfie