Status: 04/20/2022 3:05 p.m
In the television duel, Macron and Le Pen meet directly for the first time in this election campaign. The incumbent president is rhetorically stronger – but since the TV embarrassment of 2017, the right-wing candidate has learned something new.
“Rien n’est joué” – nothing has been decided yet. With this statement after the first ballot, French President Emmanuel Macron made it clear that it could be tight for him in the runoff on Sunday. The comfortable lead of 32 percentage points that Macron had over the extreme right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen in 2017 has melted: In current polls, he is only around ten percentage points ahead of Le Pen.
The incumbent president still has an advantage, analyzes political scientist Brice Teinturier: “But the main thing we have to do now is watch the TV duel. It could change the balance of votes again. The direct encounter is eagerly awaited. It’s a kind of second leg from 2017. The central question is how credible Marine Le Pen can present himself this time.”
Five years ago, Marine Le Pen really took a bath in a television duel: the frontal, personal attack was her tactic at the time, and she had little to offer in terms of content. Macron dismantled his opponent piece by piece – for example, when Le Pen confused the fact that Macron, as economics minister, did not agree to the sale of the private telephone provider SFR, but to the takeover of Alstom by US competitor General Electric: “We can now go into detail here , but you will hardly keep it up,” he said at the time. “You’re confusing apples with pears. SFR, they’re the ones with the phones and Alstom makes turbines. They’re not the same.”
Proximity to Putin as a target for attack
A traumatic experience for Le Pen, according to those around her, which must not be repeated. She has been preparing for the duel for months. Since the weekend she has retired – with her advisors and a sparring partner who is said to resemble Macron.
Le Pen wants to present Macron with content and present himself as an alternative to his social-liberal program. Macron, for his part, will once again seize the opportunity to dissect Le Pen’s clearly nationalist policies. The extreme right is also vulnerable because of its close ties to Russia and its President Vladimir Putin.
“She’s less scary”
“It’s going to be a fight,” says political scientist Teinturier. Le Pen managed to change her image: “She’s less scared, she’s close to the people. Now it’s all about it. Because in this discussion, people want to know: who wants what? And how do the two candidates present themselves? also depend on part of the votes.”
And not only Le Pen can lose. Despite a better starting position, the incumbent president has not yet won. After five years in office, Macron is no longer the candidate who promises change; no longer the one who inspires many in the country with his panache.
The majority of people have long regarded him as aloof and arrogant – also because he likes to lecture and sometimes comes across as a senior teacher. This trait could fall on his toes in a direct speech duel against Le Pen, who is usually weaker in rhetoric.