She hopes to be heard in a turbulent campaign. The candidate of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, participated in the program “Elysée 2022”, Thursday March 3, on the set of France 2. Faced with Léa Salamé and Laurent Guimier, the opponent of Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the 2017 presidential election tried to present itself as the main opponent of the head of state, who had formalized his candidacy a few minutes earlier.
>> REPLAY. Watch the program “Elysée 2022” with Marine Le Pen
A week after the start of the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine, this two-hour sequence was dominated by European issues, including a face-off between Marine Le Pen and Enrico Letta, Secretary General of the Italian Democratic Party.
Here’s what to remember from the evening.
1She accused Emmanuel Macron of remaining “withdrawn” from the campaign
Asked about the candidacy of Emmanuel Macron, the deputy of Pas-de-Calais judged that the form of this announcement, by a letter in the regional press, “demonstrates that he intends to stay back from this presidential election, from this campaign in any case”.
She has “solemnly” called the majority candidate to “not to use [de la guerre en Ukraine] to escape the electoral campaign” and to “renounce his refusal to debate” with the other candidates before the first ballot. “If the debate does not live, democracy does not live”she launched.
2She called for not ‘insulting’ Putin
Asked about his “admiration” assumed for Vladimir Putin and for authoritarian regimes, Marine Le Pen assured that she did not “no fascination” for such schemes. She defended her choice to include a photo in a campaign leaflet showing her shaking hands with the Russian president. “This document includes all the heads of state and heads of government that I have had the opportunity to meet in recent years.”
Would she be ready to call Vladimir Putin a dictator, as the government has done? The candidate of the National Rally has made it known that she does not “would not allow himself to use this vocabulary”. “For there to be a diplomatic outcome, you must not insult anyone, you must not humiliate anyone, you must not despise no one”, she defended, concerned about a “equidistance” which would allow France “to resolve conflicts”.
3She found a question about her Russian loan “unbearable”
“Your question is unbearable”launched the former president of the RN, after Anne-Sophie Lapix mentioned “a hint” of dependence on the Kremlin because of a loan contracted and still “not refunded” by the party with a Russian private bank in 2014. “Your question is unbearable because it implies things that directly affect my honor and my consideration”estimated the candidate.
“We reimburse under the extremely serious control of the National Commission for Campaign Accounts the deadlines which are ours”, she assured. According to her, Vladimir Putin “was not aware of this loan”. “When you question the independence of a patriotic political leader like me, I find it infamous”she pressed.
4She distinguished Ukrainian and Afghan migrants
“I find it perfectly natural that we show solidarity with the Ukrainian people and these war refugees”defended Marine Le Pen, believing that the latter “will of course go back to their country (…) when the war is over”. “I think that from the moment that a country is thrown out of its territory by war (…), we must show solidarity. It is normal for France, which is a European country, to do show of solidarity with European countries.”
Is its position the same with regard to people fleeing Afghanistan? “There is no war in Afghanistan, it’s over”she said. “It’s not at all the same procedure”she defended, although refugee status is not reserved for people fleeing a war.
5 She feared a “catastrophic” effect of sanctions against Russia on purchasing power
Faced with the sanctions imposed on Russia, Marine Le Pen said to ensure that these measures do not turn against the French. “There are a number of sanctions which can have direct consequences on millions of French people who can no longer (…) fill their fill”she pointed out. “The sanctions that are pronounced against the Russian oligarchs. No problem. Or against a certain number of banks. No problem. But if the consequence is to cut off the arrival of Russian gas in Europe, (… ) we could end up with a gas price multiplied by four”she waved.
Relaunched by Francis Letellier during the economic sequence of the show, she accused the government of having neglected the impact of these sanctions on the French. “Sanctions yes, but not that lead to such catastrophic consequences.”
6She joked about her father’s “retirement”
Grateful to have “change of opinion” on the question of pensions, Marine Le Pen no longer defends a legal retirement age set at 60 after 40 years of contributions. “I am a pragmatist and I find myself with Emmanuel Macron’s balance sheet (…) terrifying on the budgetary level”, she explained. It now offers a full pension at age 60 only for those who started working before age 20 and accumulate 40 annuities.
Is this reversal also linked to internal dissensions? Francis Letellier reminded him that his father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, defended him, retirement at 65 years old. “My father, he is for retirement at 100 years old”she evacuated.
7She called the veil an ‘Islamist uniform’
“I am opposed to the wearing of the veil everywhere, because I consider that it is an Islamist uniform and an inadmissible act of submission in France for women”, she said. The candidate says she wants “eradicate Islamist ideology from our country”.
8She denied the existence of racial profiling
In response to a first-time voter who asked her if she was committing to “put an end to facies checks”she said “not to beleive” in the existence of such discrimination. “I think that the police check people who are in the street, who are there and who appear to them to have a suspicious behavior – sometimes, that is not true by the way –, she said. According to her, the more frequent controls are explained by a “greater insecurity” in the neighborhoods in question, where “there is often a very significant immigration”.
9She said she was “hurt” by the rallying of Marion Maréchal to Eric Zemmour
Three days before the announced support of Marion Maréchal for Eric Zemmour during a meeting in Toulon (Var), Marine Le Pen said “do not understand” her niece’s decision. “A month ago, she said ‘I will support whoever is best placed between Eric Zemmour and myself’. It turns out that I am by far the best placed to (…) reach the second round of first and to win”, she argued. Before concluding : “On a personal level, you know very well that emotionally, it touches me and that it hurts me, I think I would find it difficult to hide it.”
