It’s raining, it’s cold and there is hardly anyone in the street, barely four activists. This Wednesday morning, they are waiting on the threshold of a restaurant in the heart of Strasbourg for the “future president of France”: Nicolas Dupont-Aignan. No crackling flashes, bodyguards, hurrying journalists. We are moreover only two journalists for a press conference which is slow to start because the candidate of Debout la France, is late, “because of the train”. Time passes. The perfect opportunity to have a chat with these fervent defenders of the man who, they assure him, “embodies France, accuracy, honesty”.
“We don’t like it, we love it,” laughs Aurore, retired. “Do you know his program? “No,” she said. Not in detail. But he’s someone upright, humble and who loves France, not like some people who say it and do the opposite. The future president? “We hope so, we believe in it. Even if for years, we prefer people who make a little cinema, a little “have you seen me”, assures Jean-Paul, her husband. We are all the same in a world that takes everything lightly, and that is very serious. »
“Many wrong things” are said
Coming from municipalities in the Strasbourg conurbation, these supporters of Nicolas Dupont-Aignan say they are “against the vaccine”, and carry the mask in their pocket. In front of the room where the press conference is planned, a small moment of panic, “they don’t want to let us go in without the health pass, it is nevertheless a political meeting! », worries Aurore. The wait continues and now ideas are invited into the discussion which for some could pass for being qualified as “conspiratorial”. But that, Jean-Paul “does not care”. If he does not share all the ideas of the candidate, his position on this subject is still one of the reasons why he appreciates it. “He himself cannot say he is against the vaccine as such, recognizes the retiree. But it is going in the right direction. “Besides, there are” many false things that are said about him “add in chorus these aficionados of the deputy of Essonne. Also began with the polls, which would be “tampered with”, “far from reality”, “ordered by Macron” and “manipulated by the media”. “Are the citizens doing the polls or are the polls making the citizens? asks Jean Paul. “But as it is straight, it disturbs, assures Aurore. We want to break it. »
Then reviews the exit from Europe, the hoped-for return from the borders, the regret of a country which would be “snatched from the citizens”. For Antoine, who has just joined the small group, what seduces this retired policeman is the candidate Debout la France “embodies” Gaullist values. “We know that the health crisis has posed many problems for freedoms. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan wanted to defend these values. But he also has an economic restructuring program to encourage companies to reposition themselves on French soil, continues the retiree. It’s good for lowering unemployment and for people who are precarious when there is a drop in purchasing power. “On nuclear power and Emmanuel Macron’s latest announcements, “I think we have to refine things, think again, tempers Yoann, the ultimate 26-year-old activist who joins us. It’s tricky, especially when it comes to old plants”.
“We must go and vote”
A small car parks, and here is Nicolas Dupont-Aignan. Quick handshakes, the candidate rushes into the room reserved for him and insists that the wearing of the mask be respected, except to speak. In the room, two journalists… It’s not much but enough to develop the main lines of his program. Without forgetting in the preamble a quick little promo of his book Where is the money going?“basis” of his presidential project then the presentation of a booklet on the “100 decisions for France 2022-2027” which would make it possible to “recover 100 billion euros”.
At a steady pace, the candidate sets out his convictions, stresses that he “wants to give back to the French their freedom and to France its independence”, to want to “rebuild public services throughout the territory”, maintains “that it was possible to fight against the virus without infringing on the freedom of the French”. Before recalling his attachment to referendums, convinced that “the democratic crisis” that France is experiencing “is due to the absence of association of the French in major decisions”. Well-rehearsed, his presentation is full of punchlines. “I am the only candidate who does not shave for free”, “everyone promises anything and everything”, “After the fake Santas there will be a terrible backlash”, “freedom, democracy, power to purchase “.
360 validated sponsorships
Asked about a possible call from the foot of Eric Zemmour for the second round, the sovereignist candidate sweeps away. “I prefer myself” to the other candidates, he smiles. “I don’t know who will be in the second round. I am fighting for 47 million registered voters to go to the polls. To give his preference for such and such a candidate, he prefers to recall the need to “reconcile the French after Macron’s presidency which pitted the French against each other”, “independence for France”, “the stopping the migratory submersion” and the “assimilation of those who are there”. “We can be firm on border security without going up against each other,” concludes the candidate.
Our file on the 2022 presidential election
For the time being, the hope of being elected first depends on obtaining sponsorship, the main reason for his coming to Alsace. It is also always in a hurry that the candidate took the road to meet several mayors gathered in a village in Bas-Rhin and then in Haut-Rhin. Visits for which he does not want the presence of the press or to make any publicity, “to avoid any pressure on these elected officials. “A pressure which weighs on him however:” I miss more than twenty signatures, confides the candidate. I’m in danger if I don’t get them. As of February 15, according to the latest update of the list of validated sponsorships, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan
had 360.