**President Emmanuel Macron has sometimes been accused of promoting a duel between himself and far-right leader Marine Le Pen, seeing her party as a more easily beaten opponent.**
The air is getting heavier at the Elysée Palace. For several weeks now, President Emmanuel Macron has been receiving worrying messages from lawmakers in his party, Renaissance. Some voters are telling them in no uncertain terms they will vote for the far-right Rassemblement National party. Fearing the conflictuality of radical left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, out of exasperation with a president accused of arrogance, or, increasingly, out of support for Marine Le Pen’s rhetoric, some French people are ready to take the plunge rightwards. “It’s a phenomenon in the making, and we’ve been warned about it,” said an adviser to the president.
On the day of his unexpected victory in 2017, Macron vowed during his speech at the Pyramide du Louvre that he would do everything in his power to ensure that the French “no longer have any reason to vote for the extremes.” Unemployment has fallen and billions have been poured into schools, hospitals and economically deprived suburbs. Macron repeatedly tells those close to him that he has beaten the RN twice, in 2017 and in 2022. But now he’s shaken.
“We have to fight,” said Karl Olive, Renaissance MP, who says has observed a “sharpened radicalism” since the outbreak of war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has used the words “atmospheric jihad” to describe the political and security climate in France.
It’s extremely funny to me that every single Western government is losing ground to the right because of a single reason (immigration) and none of them are taking actual steps to dealing with it.
​
The answer is super clear, in bright neon with flashing arrows pointing at it, and they SEE it but they don’t want to deal with it because there’s an army of lobbyists and NGOs giving them money to pretend to be blind.
Well, he has three more years to go a bit populist and strafe her from the right rhetorically on key issues. As is the tradition for leaders who hate native Europeans. I’m sure he’ll be fine
One can only hope
The Le Pen family has been inching closer to a win for the past 2 decades.
Her pitbull faced daddy came close but luckily failed everytime.
It would be hilarious if the Le Pens legacy will be continually losing in the 2nd round, so close to their goal.
I’m without glasses, so I had to do a double take at Le Pen’s name
Pushing through the pension age, and he wonders why his popularity is slipping, not a genius then
Lower legal immigration to a reasonable level, stop sending aid to countries who refuse to take back illegal immigrants, make it impossible to claim asylum when you walk in from a safe country, deport foreign criminals, process legal asylum seekers exclusively from countries close to the source conflict to ensure process/volumes applied. Those 5 things would wipe out Le Pen’s popularity.
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**President Emmanuel Macron has sometimes been accused of promoting a duel between himself and far-right leader Marine Le Pen, seeing her party as a more easily beaten opponent.**
The air is getting heavier at the Elysée Palace. For several weeks now, President Emmanuel Macron has been receiving worrying messages from lawmakers in his party, Renaissance. Some voters are telling them in no uncertain terms they will vote for the far-right Rassemblement National party. Fearing the conflictuality of radical left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, out of exasperation with a president accused of arrogance, or, increasingly, out of support for Marine Le Pen’s rhetoric, some French people are ready to take the plunge rightwards. “It’s a phenomenon in the making, and we’ve been warned about it,” said an adviser to the president.
On the day of his unexpected victory in 2017, Macron vowed during his speech at the Pyramide du Louvre that he would do everything in his power to ensure that the French “no longer have any reason to vote for the extremes.” Unemployment has fallen and billions have been poured into schools, hospitals and economically deprived suburbs. Macron repeatedly tells those close to him that he has beaten the RN twice, in 2017 and in 2022. But now he’s shaken.
An ill wind is blowing across Europe. It [hoisted Giorgia Meloni](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/09/26/italy-elections-resounding-triumph-for-giorgia-meloni-s-far-right-fratelli-d-italia_5998222_4.html), leader of the post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia party, to power in September 2022, and offered a [victory to the Dutch populist tribune Geert Wilders](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/11/23/far-right-geert-wilders-triumphs-in-dramatic-dutch-election-but-could-struggle-to-form-coalition_6281412_4.html), in November, though he is not certain to become prime minsiter. Should Macron resign himself to seeing Le Pen succeed him?
“We have to fight,” said Karl Olive, Renaissance MP, who says has observed a “sharpened radicalism” since the outbreak of war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has used the words “atmospheric jihad” to describe the political and security climate in France.
The [urban riots last summer](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2023/07/07/riots-in-france-key-lessons-to-learn-from-social-political-and-educational-crisis_6045793_7.html), the attacks in [Arras](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2023/10/18/arras-terror-attack-the-perpetrator-was-driven-by-a-hatred-of-france-its-democracy-and-its-schools_6185437_7.html), northern France, on October 13, and the [Bir-Hakeim bridge](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2023/12/07/paris-knife-attacker-had-planned-to-target-a-jewish-site_6320589_7.html) in Paris, on December 2, as well as the [murder of a teenager in Crépol](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2023/12/09/after-the-killing-of-a-teenager-a-chasm-opened-in-a-french-town_6326432_7.html), southeast France, in November, have stirred up fears that the far right has exploited. The perception of a “link between immigration, crime and Islamism is only growing stronger in public opinion, and the Rassemblement National is gaining ground,” said Bernard Sananès, president of the Elabe polling institute.
**Read the full article here:** [**https://www.lemonde.fr/en/politics/article/2023/12/20/macron-has-still-not-found-how-to-stave-off-le-pen-s-rise_6359875_5.html**](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/politics/article/2023/12/20/macron-has-still-not-found-how-to-stave-off-le-pen-s-rise_6359875_5.html)
It’s extremely funny to me that every single Western government is losing ground to the right because of a single reason (immigration) and none of them are taking actual steps to dealing with it.
​
The answer is super clear, in bright neon with flashing arrows pointing at it, and they SEE it but they don’t want to deal with it because there’s an army of lobbyists and NGOs giving them money to pretend to be blind.
Well, he has three more years to go a bit populist and strafe her from the right rhetorically on key issues. As is the tradition for leaders who hate native Europeans. I’m sure he’ll be fine
One can only hope
The Le Pen family has been inching closer to a win for the past 2 decades.
Her pitbull faced daddy came close but luckily failed everytime.
It would be hilarious if the Le Pens legacy will be continually losing in the 2nd round, so close to their goal.
I’m without glasses, so I had to do a double take at Le Pen’s name
Pushing through the pension age, and he wonders why his popularity is slipping, not a genius then
Lower legal immigration to a reasonable level, stop sending aid to countries who refuse to take back illegal immigrants, make it impossible to claim asylum when you walk in from a safe country, deport foreign criminals, process legal asylum seekers exclusively from countries close to the source conflict to ensure process/volumes applied. Those 5 things would wipe out Le Pen’s popularity.