Funny presidential campaign than that of 2022. Positive for Covid-19, Valérie Pécresse had to cancel all her trips to respect the regulatory isolation period. But two weeks before the election, the right-wing candidate, who is now fifth in the polls, behind Eric Zemmour and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, could not afford to do nothing. Especially since the day of Sunday March 27 was rich in rallies and other meetings of all kinds for all political parties.
Above all, it was necessary to respond in one way or another to the former far-right polemicist Eric Zemmour, who never ceases to claim to be right-wing in order to better flirt with the voters of the Les Républicains (LR) party, and who brought together several tens of thousands of people on Sunday at Place du Trocadéro, in Paris. A very clear allusion to the great rout organized by François Fillon a few days before the presidential election of 2017. “Valérie Pécresse is not the type to waste a day even with covid, while being respectful of health rules”argues its communications director, MEP Geoffroy Didier.
It is therefore on a blue background, alone from her HQ, that Valérie Pécresse invited her potential voters to a meeting on the videoconferencing site Zoom. The participants, numbering just over 5,000 according to the team, were called upon to ask questions. An hour and a half during which the candidate, visibly still tired, shelled her measures in response to the requests of each other.
“That’s definitely not right!” »
In the introduction, Valérie Pécresse tried to ward off the scenario that is taking shape of a second round which would see Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen face each other: “I came to tell you not to let this election be stolen from you, she asserted. The outgoing president wants a face-to-face with the extremes because he is sure to win. With a Marine Le Pen, a Zemmour or a Mélenchon, it’s survival insurance. »
The candidate LR also wanted to respond on Twitter to Eric Zemmour, reproaching him for not having reacted to the cry of « Macron assassin » of a person present at the meeting: “Eric Zemmour lets a crowd shout “Macron assassin”. I strongly fight the outgoing president, but letting an opponent be treated as a murderer is dangerous for the Republic. This is definitely not right! »
In the days to come, the candidate will try to catch up on the agenda by insisting on the themes of security and purchasing power. The challenge: to differentiate himself from Emmanuel Macron, but also to exceed Eric Zemmour. The place in the second round already seems out of reach.