In competition with Eric Zemmour, Marine Le Pen accelerates on immigration

From our special correspondent in Gironde

On the market in Cavignac (Gironde), this Thursday morning, the sun is already proudly beating down on the fish stall. Standing on her cane, a lady grows impatient. “I heard on the radio that she would be there, so I came. I have always voted for her… ”The small town north of Bordeaux is agitated around 10am. Marine Le Pen gets out of a black sedan, all smiles, surrounded by a swarm of journalists. She ventures as best she can to chat with onlookers and distributes leaflets against rising prices at the pump and the government’s “tax hype”. “Here, this concerns you. You have to travel a lot, ”she blurted out to the merchants.

Very comfortable, the candidate National Assembly for the presidential election multiplies the selfies with the curious and jokes: “On the TV sets, we do not always have the opportunity to talk about purchasing power, the subjects that concern you. , so I come to see you directly. But in politics, as elsewhere, smiles can be a facade. The former boss of the RN is not unaware that her start to the campaign is experiencing an air gap. The irruption of the quasi-candidate Eric Zemmour on his themes causes it to drop dramatically in the polls:
minus 12 points in three months.

Marine Le Pen takes selfies. – TLG / 20minutes

Zemmour makes “observations that we have been making for over thirty years”

“It’s called democracy. Competition in a campaign is quite normal. But I am the best placed to carry national ideas ”, tries to minimize Marine Le Pen this Thursday, while the polemicist is at 3 points in the latest Harris Interactive survey. To stop the dynamic of Eric Zemmour, the candidate still took care
to advance his immigration sequence. And to put the package: after a news report on France 2 Monday evening, she presented her referendum on the “control” of immigration at a press conference on Tuesday, then met actors on the ground concerned by the subject in Bordeaux Wednesday.

Among the measures mentioned: prohibition of any regularization of undocumented migrants, “national priority” in access to housing or employment, expulsion of delinquent foreigners, end of family reunification, reservation of certain social benefits “for the French” … In short, Marine Le Pen hopes to appear as the candidate for the field and “concrete proposals” against those she calls “false prophets”. The member for Nord-Pas-de-Calais is ironic this Thursday on the media outings of the former journalist of the Figaro : he makes “observations that we have been making for over thirty years”.

Within the movement, some are less affable. “We wave the Zemmour puppet to harm us, but he should be wondering who is he really serving?” It is only a commentator, we, we have solutions, whistles the part of the movement Gilles Pennelle, which envisages a big militant mobilization on this topic at the end of the week.

“The reality on the ground is different from the very media and very Parisian agitations”

On the Cavignac market, some are worried about Zemmour’s potential candidacy. “I have always been a supporter of the FN and I remain faithful. But of course Zemmour speaks to me. He takes up our speech a little, so he will take votes, the campaign will be tougher, ”regrets a man. “Of course, we feel an interest in the field,” confirms Pauline Garraud, elected RN at the Aquitaine Regional Council. “But there are always candidates who emerge during a campaign. Today, Zemmour hits Marine to stand out, but we are on the same themes. And maybe our paths will meet again soon. “

Further on, Marine Le Pen continues her stroll. In this rural territory, where she garnered more than 30% of the votes in the first round of the 2017 presidential election, Eric Zemmour seems far away for the moment. Some passers-by ignore even the very name of the polemicist. “The reality on the ground is different from the very media and very Parisian agitations, wants to believe the candidate. I say it with peace of mind: I will be in the second round and I will win the presidential election. “

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