For the second time in five years, Emmanuel Macron found himself face to face with Marine Le Pen for the presidential debate. This time however, the two protagonists are more prepared, nourished by their experience. One has a mandate behind him, the other is in his third candidacy and noted the failures of his previous debate. This April 20, 2022 in front of the stars of journalism Léa Salamé and Gilles Bouleau, they therefore passionately defended their ideas by distinguishing themselves in substance but also in form.
If Marine Le Pen did not want to play the offensive card, she made a false start from the first seconds of the show and confused by taking out her secret weapon to defend herself on her links with Russia with a printed tweet on A4 sheet. She questioned the incumbent president’s balance sheet figures, calling it “Mozart of finance” and citing the controversy over the use of consulting firms that polluted his campaign: “I don’t know if McKinsey came up with this…His political enemy then responds: “Athat’s it, I was waiting for this one. You took your time, Madame Le Pen.“
Emmanuel Macron has chosen to take the measures and defend concrete facts: “The figures are not Gérard Majax, this evening, Madame Le Pen!“, quoting the famous magician who hosted several popular television shows in the 1980s. He also used confusing expressions: after the famous pixie powder, he came up with the misunderstood term “pick back” (disguising reality under a shiny appearance) and an unexpected “finished”.
On his pace, the husband of Brigitte Macron surprised with his position. For some Internet users, he was “slouched” and sometimes “arrogant”, for others, his posture showed how courteous and attentive he was to his opponent. He took care to bounce off each of Marine Le Pen’s words, highlighting what was well said, true and false. A divisive attitude but the joke he shared with the head of the RN, provoking his big smiles, shows that on the eve of the second round, respect remained in place.