Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, interviewed on Thursday April 21 on CNews, gave his verdict on the debate the day before between the president-candidate and the boss of the RN.
On CNews, Gérald Darmanin began his assessment of the debate with a preamble: “It was an interesting debate, with two very different visions of society and of the world. It was a rather healthy debate, compared to 2017 […] There were a lot of topics that called on the international, Europe. »
He then explained that this debate will have highlighted “the choice between two types of France: two ways of imagining the governance of the French people or of experiencing a very different Europe”, while affirming that he understood “that the one or the other may be disappointed that there is no great breath, but starting with measures of purchasing power perhaps prevents the litany of measures. Even if it is important for the French. »
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About the invectives and other ad hominem attacks launched by Emmanuel Macron, the Minister of the Interior tempered: “In a debate it is normal that there are spades. In 2h30 of debate, it is quite logical that there is verbal language, replies, with tensions. It is normal that there are exchanges. »
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And the abstainers in all this? Those who refuse to vote between “plague and cholera”? Gérald Darmanin first kicked in touch: “I am not the best placed to answer this because I voted in the elections” before adding that “everyone sees that there is a very important issue: either they vote for Marine Le Pen and we leave Europe and her arguments are adventurous, or they choose continuity to deal with crises and they go to the insurance of a world that will improve but which will not be the revolution in the wrong way as Madame Le Pen wants. I think the citizen cannot stay on his sofa. »
He criticized the fact that the RN candidate “has adopted a strategy for more than a year, which is concealment” and continued: “Without Madame Le Pen, there would not have been Monsieur Zemmour. […] She then relapsed into her inconsistencies and caricatures saying a lot of inaccurate things about her measurements. »
Gérald Darmanin blasted Marine Le Pen’s program
The arrogance and contempt of Emmanuel Macron, often pointed out, were then dissected by the minister, who defended him: “In my town of Tourcoing, quoted by the president yesterday, it is thanks to him that the inhabitants have been protected from the Covid, that their children live with more possibility of success by being twelve per class. Mr. Macron took decisive action among the workers. »
On the international side, Gérald Darmanin declared that Marine Le Pen, if she were to be elected, “would be bound by Russian power without a doubt”, adding that “when you owe someone money, it is completely logical. Madame Le Pen acknowledged the annexation of Crimea in 2014-2015. She then had a loan from the Russian authorities. She has been banned for six years from traveling to Ukraine. »
He also castigated his program, in particular on the exit from the integrated command of NATO: “Who wants to leave the integrated command of NATO at a time when we have a nuclear threat on the European continent? Madame Le Pen depends on Russia and it is important for the French to know that someone depends on a foreign power. »
This was followed by a return in image of the debate with the comments of the Minister of the Interior on the performance of his candidate, on the subjects of purchasing power, pensions, wearing the veil in public space and the security. Gérald Darmanin defended the president-candidate’s record and continued to say that Marine Le Pen’s project would be dangerous for France.