A duel and even a wrestling match rather than an exchange, between two adversaries who interrupted each other and shouted at each other without listening to each other. A tension that was due to two reasons: Valérie Pécresse and Éric Zemmour flirt with roughly the same electoral clienteles. And they are both in deep trouble in the polls. Far, very far from Emmanuel Macron, and even won by Marine Le Pen. One month from the first round, neither Valérie Pécresse nor Éric Zemmour seem able to qualify for the second.
In this shock for electoral survival, the candidate of LR tried to display a form of seriousness, of presidentiality, and she applied herself to underlining the contradictions and the inconsistency of the far-right polemicist. He repeated his favorite punchlines, “zero immigration”, “great replacement”, “Islam = Islamism”, but without developing a specific program.
It is indeed the schism to come on the right that was taking shape in this duel, between on the one hand a right-wing government likely to collaborate with the head of state if he is reappointed, especially if a lasting war in Europe imposes a sort of climate of national unity; and on the other an extreme right, radicalized, ready to get along with the National Rally. A hypothetical “union of the extreme right”, on which Zemmour is trying to take over.
Basically, the alternative offered to the right is rather unattractive: either it becomes the auxiliary force of a re-elected president, or it falls into a radicalization which leads it to marginalize itself outside of any culture of government.
If we are interested in the two protagonists, it is undoubtedly Valérie Pécresse who has done the best. She appeared a little more solid, a little more credible than an ideologue who always has trouble making his slogans coincide with reality.
But beyond these two supporting roles, the real winner of this televised contest is surely Emmanuel Macron. A head of state almost never cited or attacked last night. And who will have found with this permanent heckling, this schoolyard atmosphere, one more argument to justify his refusal to participate in a televised debate with his competitors before the first round?