The Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire criticized the economic program of the National Rally on Wednesday, estimating that “Lepenism is a new Marxism”, while the far-right party largely outdistances the presidential majority in the polls for Europeans.
“The reality is that Lepenism is a new Marxism: always more spending, always less revenue,” declared the minister in an interview with Le Monde.
“The sum of social expenditure incurred by Ms. Le Pen, from the nationalization of highways to retirement at 60, without forgetting the income tax exemption for those under 30, amounts to 120 billion euros,” he says.
“The recipes are always the same: hitting immigrants,” he adds.
While the list of the president of the RN, Jordan Bardella, is given by several studies with more than 10 points ahead of that of the majority on June 9, Bruno Le Maire broadened his criticism to the party’s position on Ukraine , denouncing “the contradictions of the National Rally and its capitulatory attitude towards Vladimir Putin”.
“The only real consistency that I recognize in Marine Le Pen is to have always defended Vladimir Putin,” he adds, advocating for his part “a line of very great firmness vis-à-vis Russia “. “Europeans must be lucid about the imperialist intentions of Vladimir Putin,” he believes, judging that “our democracies must learn strength.”
Asked on BFMTV-RMC about these statements, RN deputy Jean-Philippe Tanguy assured that Bruno Le Maire was saying “such an enormity to cover up the catastrophe of public accounts”.
“Mr. Le Maire’s lies are on par with his incompetence,” he criticized.