This is the crucial moment between the two rounds of the presidential election. Qualified for the last ballot before the election of the new Head of State, the two finalists face off during a televised debate where each tries to convince the French of the merits of their project. A moment which offers sequences that have become legendary but which rarely influences the final result of the votes.
This Wednesday, April 20, 2022, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will replay the 2017 match where the newcomer at the time had taken over a candidate lost in her contradictions. A fall that weighed heavily on the credibility of the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen. But the dynamic that took the youngest of the Breton family to the second round proves that in politics, no one is ever really down.
Aware that she has never been so close to the Elysée Palace, Marine Le Pen has prepared herself as well as possible so as not to trip over the carpet this time around. The deputy of Hauts-de-France would have isolated herself for a few days with her close guard in order to best arm herself against the outgoing president. Once the hour of the fateful debate has arrived, Marion Maréchal’s aunt should feel at ease on a set where everything is done to ensure that the participants are in an optimal position.
Each year, the two candidates have their share of requirements. Room temperature, seat height, position of water glasses, nothing is left to chance by those around them. Everything is calculated so that the fighters show themselves in their best light. Even if it means voluntarily hiding certain physical defects. Nicolas Sarkozy, for example, refused to be filmed in profile because he hates his nose. His opponent in 2012, François Hollande demanded that all high shots be banned, because he did not want viewers to notice his incipient baldness. An obsession that also tormented Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in the 70s and 80s.
Thibaud Cruz
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