French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen clashed in a heated election debate, the only one before Sunday’s run-off, Reuters reported.
The debate began a little awkwardly for Le Pen, who first showed nervousness with body language and then began to speak before finishing the introductory musical theme. The presenter interrupted her and asked her to start over, which she then did and tried to get out of the situation with laughter and a direct attack on Macron for his economic policy.
The French president was no less aggressive and told her that she had been part of parliament in many cases when living standards were being decided.
For Le Pen, who lags in opinion polls, the long-awaited debate was an opportunity to convince voters that he has the qualities to be president and that he should not worry about the far right coming to power.
How do Macron and Le Pen see the energy future of France?
“I will make my top priority over the next five years to return the money to the French,” Le Pen said, adding that the French had “suffered” throughout Macron’s term.
One of the main lines Macron used to attack her was that of admiring her in the past by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the loan for her 2017 election campaign obtained through a Russian bank.
“You depend on Russian power, you depend on Mr. Putin. You took a loan from a Russian bank,” Macron told Le Pen.
Given that unemployment is at its lowest level in 13 years, Macron said he was proud of the jobs created during his tenure, adding: “The best way to increase purchasing power is to fight unemployment “.
The French president said a measure proposed by Le Pen to ban Muslim headscarves in public places in France would provoke a “civil war” if implemented, the Associated Press reported. Earlier, Le Pen said he was not fighting against Muslims but radical Islam, adding that he believed the headscarf was a uniform imposed by Islamists.
A tense debate between Macron and Le Pen
French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen clashed in a heated election debate, the only one before Sunday’s run-off.
The televised dispute was tense all the time and was colored by sharp remarks and mutual accusations of lack of ambition in the vision of the future of France.
The balance sheet shows that Macron was more convincing than the far-right candidate for head of state. According to the blitz poll, 59% of the surveyed viewers think that he was more convincing. During last night’s debate, the topic of Russia provoked sharp remarks between the two candidates.
