Outgoing President Emmanuel Macron held his big meeting this Saturday at the Arena La Défense in Nanterre.
Emmanuel Macron defended “the quiet strength of fraternity” to fight against those who advocate “the great stunting” of France, during his first campaign meeting on Saturday near Paris, attacking “extremism” and ” to hatred”.
“Good luck to those who, in the face of Russia, advocate the great withdrawal and good courage to those who, faced with the return of empires and the challenges of the times, defend the great stunting”, launched the president-candidate during his speech in front of more than 30,000 people, according to the organizers, at the Arena La Défense in Nanterre.
Brigitte Macron at the U Arena. The First Lady follows the meeting in the front row, facing one of the desks, alongside Jean Castex and Richard Ferrand. #MacronArena @Paris Match pic.twitter.com/KAzA3L5xd8
— Emilie Cabot (@emiliecabot) April 2, 2022
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Without naming names, he referred to the “great replacement”, a conspiratorial concept which denounces an alleged substitution of white European and Christian populations by immigrants of color, of which Éric Zemmour (Reconquête!) has made its leitmotif.
Emmanuel Macron’s parents, Françoise Noguès and Jean-Michel Macron, in the front row to follow their son’s meeting #MacronArena @Paris Match pic.twitter.com/8ycrCGw9yn
— Emilie Cabot (@emiliecabot) April 2, 2022
He warned of ‘the extremist danger’
“There is nothing more powerful than the quiet strength of fraternity”, added Emmanuel Macron, winking at the slogan “quiet strength” of the victory of the socialist François Mitterrand in the presidential election of 1981 And he called for “not to dilute our forces in divisions” because “united France is the one that faces each other, in its plurality”, this time in reference to “United France” advocated by Mr. Mitterrand during his re-election campaign in 1988.
Claude Lelouch, among the personalities present at Emmanuel Macron’s meeting. As usual, the director immortalized a few moments, like here where he films the candidate’s parents. #MacronArena @Paris Match pic.twitter.com/hoohSywUoW
— Emilie Cabot (@emiliecabot) April 2, 2022
Faced with an unprecedented sounding breakthrough by Marine Le Pen, the outgoing president warned at length against “the extremist danger”, “all the greater since for several years, hatred has become commonplace in public debate”, added he castigated.
“We have become used to seeing politicians say anything about the Covid, hold the worst conspiratorial speeches about the vaccine, at the risk of putting the lives of our compatriots in danger, they can leave the Euro in the morning, in the evening come in Europe, no one ever notes their inconsistency”, denounced Emmanuel Macron again, targeting the far right.
At the place of his counterpart on the left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, he attacked “others who claim Jaurès or Clémenceau who stop defending secularism and pour into communitarianism”.
Facing the extremes, he boasted of having created “a new formation”, LREM and called “all those from social democracy to Gaullism, including environmentalists who have not yet joined us, to do it”.