They expected it. Even before the second round of the presidential election, supporters of Emmanuel Macron feared they would have to face fierce opposition from the leader of La France insoumise (LFI), Jean-Luc Mélenchon, following the re-election of their candidate. . It did not fail.
Barely announced the victory of the tenant of the Elysée, Sunday April 24, the leader of the radical left immediately affirmed that Mr. Macron was “the worst elected of the presidents of the Ve Republic “. “His presidential monarchy survives by default” car “it floats in an ocean of abstention, blank and invalid ballots”accused Mr. Mélenchon.
A trial of illegitimacy immediately denounced by the macronists. Spearheading the counter-offensive, the boss of La République en Marche (LRM) deputies, Christophe Castaner, criticized “dangerous game” of the “rebellious”, accusing him of propagating « fake news ». Pretending that Mr. Macron would be the president “the worst elected of the Ve Republic “ is “factually false, both in percentage and number of votes”corrected Mr. Castaner, Monday, April 25, on France 2.
In fact, as demonstrated by “The Decoders” of the MondeMr. Mélenchon’s statement is incorrect because by winning the second round with 18.8 million votes (58.54%) against 13.3 million for Marine Le Pen (41.46%), Mr. Macron does not is not the worst off of the presidents of the Ve Republic, whether in percentage of the votes cast (he surpassed François Mitterrand in 1981 and 1988 or even Nicolas Sarkozy in 2017), in number of votes (he has for example more than François Hollande in 2012), and even in percentage of the number of registrants (he does a little better than Georges Pompidou in 1969). Despite the reality of the numbers, “a little music appeared” from Sunday evening, “and since then, it would seem that Emmanuel Macron would have lost! »was indignant Mr. Castaner.
A “minority” president
In his wake, the macronists concentrated criticism against the deputy of Bouches-du-Rhône, accusing him, in the words of the deputy (LRM) of Vienne Sacha Houlié, of having an attitude of ” sore loser “and to be a follower of “coup de force”.
With his ” lie “, il “has not lived up to the institutions and his own voters”, struck the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, on CNews, Monday, April 25. “For Jean-Luc Mélenchon, an election he does not win is an election that does not exist”, in turn slashed the government spokesman, Gabriel Attal, on BFM-TV. Before calling back: “Already in 2017, we had heard Jean-Luc Mélenchon question the election [présidentielle] because he was not qualified in the second round. »
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