This is their first face-to-face meeting of the European campaign: national rally leader Jordan Bardella, a heavy favorite in opinion polls, and his Macronist rival Valerie Hayer went head-to-head in their first face-off on Thursday. in the face of a European campaign.
“You have a thousand faces, Mr. Bardello, but in the end only one face: the face of a fraud,” he attacked the head of the renaissance list, which acts as a challenge, with only 17% of voting intentions and in his rearview mirror the Socialist candidate Raphaël Glucksmann (14%).
Transfer of weapons to Ukraine
After ironically hailing his opponent’s “courage” for “standing up as a candidate when nobody wanted to wear Emmanuel Macron’s colors in these European elections”, Jordan Bardella accused Valerie Hayer of “playing games” with the war in Ukraine.
The president of the RN, who leads polls with more than 30% of electoral intentions, criticized the head of the Renaissance list for going to Ukraine at the end of March “to be photographed” and then broadcasting the photos on social networks. .
The Renaissance candidate, who needs to make up for a lack of notoriety compared to her 28-year-old rival, who is more experienced in this type of exercise, responded by assuring that “the interest of the French and the Europeans is not only Russia to win this war”, repeating accusations against the RN that she is “a transfer by the Kremlin belt”.
In the face of these attacks, Mr Bardella pointed to the financing of the Renaissance campaign by “a European political party called ALDE (Alliance of Democrats and Liberals for Europe)” which he alleged would be funded by large US groups such as “Microsoft”. , Amazon and Facebook”.
In 2019, ALDE gave up corporate funding after the previous European elections and similar accusations from the far right.
Death of Matisse solved by two candidates
The leader of the Macronist list attacked his rival for his “duplicity”. After attacking his absence from the European Parliament since his election 5 years ago, she estimated that the leader of the RN list “says what he doesn’t vote for and doesn’t vote for what he says”.
The two heads of the list also clashed over security issues, notably returning to the death of the young Matisse, killed on April 27 in Châteauroux by a fifteen-year-old minor.
Valérie Hayer condemned the “indignity” of the RN, which “systematically exploits tragedy for political gain”, while Jordan Bardella estimated that “immigration has become the worst fuel for street violence and insecurity in our country”. “I feel like there’s an elephant in the living room and you’re the only one who can’t see it,” he continued.
“Yes, there is a problem of illegal immigration,” admitted Valérie Hayer. But there are asylum seekers who are entitled to protection. These are our European values,” she said, condemning the “simplistic solutions of populists.”
“Try us!” », began Jordan Bardella, returning the debate to the soil of national politics. He promised that the RN “will not have a shaking hand when we are in power”, whether it is to “restore order to the country” or “drastically control immigration”.
Agreement on the issue of student mobilization
On the occupation of universities by students mobilized for Gaza, both candidates agreed on the desire not to import the struggles of American universities to France and to fight against anti-Semitism.
Faced with Jordan Bardell, who was credited with 32% of voting intentions according to an Ipsos poll five weeks before the election, Ms Hayer emerges as a challenger with just 17%, with Socialist candidate Raphaël Glucksmann (14%) in the rearview mirror.
Bardella admits Jean-Marie Le Pen made ’eminently anti-Semitic remarks’
The president of the National Assembly (RN) Jordan Bardella admitted on Thursday that Jean-Marie le Pen, the patriarch of the French far right, had made “eminently anti-Semitic” remarks in his life.
“Jean-Marie Le Pen was convicted of anti-Semitism. Jean-Marie Le Pen’s comments were eminently anti-Semitic,” said Jordan Bardella on BFMTV.
“But if again, ten years later, you are calling Jean-Marie Le Pen for help, it is probably because you do not have much to say about what interests our fellow citizens,” said Valérie Hayer, who asked him to declare that ” Jean-Marie Le Pen has been a disgrace” to his political party “for 50 years”.
Jordan Bardella, head of the RN list and heavy favorite in the June 9 European elections, had to admit to “ineptness” last November after confirming a few days ago that he “doesn’t think Jean-Marie Le Pen was anti-Semitic.” “Jean -Marie Le Pen has apparently closed himself into anti-Semitism,” he declared at the time.