Emmanuel Macron warned that his nationalist opponent, Marine Le Pen, risks starting a "civil war” in France with a ban on Muslim headscarves, while Le Pen sought to portray the president as an elitist in thrall to global finance.
In a televised debate before the final round of the presidential election on Sunday, Le Pen called Macron a "Mozart of Finance,” a moniker that has followed him since his days as an investment banker. She said his economic policies had been a disappointment and referred to herself as the "spokeswoman of the French people.”
The head-to-head got progressively more heated as the night wore on, addressing issues from tech startups to the role of religion in public life, though it didn’t reach the hostility of their previous encounter in 2017.
Macron lashed out at his 53-year-old rival for conflating Islam, security and terrorism, and said her plans to ban the veil in all public spaces would trigger violent unrest. "What you propose is a betrayal of the French spirit,” he said.
After a disastrous debate performance derailed her chances in the last election, Le Pen was more prepared this time around and largely struck a more moderate tone. The president accused her of lying as he ripped into her explanation of how she wants to reform the European Union, repeatedly interrupting her and accusing her of getting her facts wrong.
Last time out, Macron, 44, was a political novelty promising to tear down the establishment. This time he has a track record and Le Pen attacked it with relish. She said that France has become a dangerous place for people with any kind of wealth and criticized the jump in government borrowing during the pandemic and the president's plans to raise the retirement age.
"As soon as anyone has anything of any value in our country, they tremble with fear it will be stolen from them,” she said. Her solutions include combating immigration, more respect for police officers and tougher sentencing by courts.
Macron was judged to be more convincing by 59% of viewers, according to a snap poll of 650 adults by Elabe for BFMTV. Some 39% said Le Pen was more convincing.
With just four days to go until the French decide between two radically different visions for their future, opinion polls show there are still many undecided voters and both candidates are targeting the supporters of far-left candidate, Jean-Luc Melenchon, who finished just behind Le Pen in the first round with 7.7 million votes.
A group of Melenchon supporters gathered in a bar in the suburbs of Paris to follow the cut and thrust, which stretched on for almost three hours.
"This debate will be frustrating for most French people who haven’t voted for Macron or Le Pen,” Alexis Corbiere, a lawmaker from Melenchon’s far-left party, said as the event kicked off. "But it’s an important moment in French politics.”
Presidential debates have been a fixture in France since 1974, and they’re widely followed, even by those who aren’t otherwise interested in politics. Some 16.5 million viewers tuned in five years ago. But whereas debates used to be broadcast only on TV, social media has given them a new relevance, and observers say that what matters most are the short extracts that are shared among friends.
Even before the event concluded, memes on social media are making fun of Macron looking at Le Pen with disdain and Le Pen repeatedly answering "this is false” to Macron’s attacks.
The Melenchon supporters laughed when Le Pen said she would be the president of fraternity, harmony and "civil peace” and were visibly bored by the five-minute-long discussion on a Russian loan to Le Pen’s movement.
"You depend on Russian power and you depend on Mr. Putin,” Macron said, adding that Le Pen’s pro-Russian sympathies are reflected in her policy positions.
Le Pen recognized that the loan from 2014 remains outstanding but insisted it will take time to pay it back. "We are a poor party, but that doesn’t dishonor us,” she said. "He knows what he says is false” and "a bit dishonest.”
Le Pen was looking at Macron squarely in the eyes for most of debate, after being attacked for not doing that last time. She smiled often whereas Macron looked at the moderators.
The president has often been criticized for using overly complex language, made a clear effort to speak clearly and concisely. Le Pen repeatedly complained he wasn’t letting her finish her sentences. "Stop cutting me off,” she said at one point.
Their discussion of purchasing power turned into a numbers battle, and their argument over unemployment was a key dividing point in this election campaign.
While Melenchon himself has previously urged his supporters not to vote for Le Pen, without endorsing Macron, he wasn’t offering them any further guidance on Wednesday.
"What a waste,” he tweeted shortly after the debate wrapped up. "The country deserved better than that.”
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