Caught up by internal quarrels. While the fire of the family saga smolders in Paris with her niece Marion Maréchal, tempted to join Éric Zemmour, Marine Le Pen thought she would clear her mind by meeting her European allies on Saturday to establish her international credibility. Except that the latter, even more than 1000 km from the capital, is obviously overtaken by the upheavals which agitate his party. To the point of having to raise the tone and ask for a clarification of the intentions in its ranks: “We can change sides, but it must be done now”, addressed the president of the RN to those who are tempted to join his competitor.
“Because what is unbearable is the taqiya for which they themselves reproach the Islamists”, added Marine Le Pen during a tense microphone with the press, in reference to the concept in the Muslim religion recommending to conceal his belief in case of danger. “To have people who, today, pretend to be here, when in reality their hearts or their minds are elsewhere, it was unbearable. It is a total lack of dignity, of respect for all of our activists who fight, them, with conviction, with heart, with courage, but also all of our voters, “he said. she said again.
A little earlier, and perhaps the trigger for this exit, MEP Nicolas Bay, first vice-president of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament – where the RN sits – and that the candidate of the National Rally had taken care to take to Madrid, had refused to say on Saturday whether he would be by his side until the first round. “I am today in Madrid alongside our candidate and our European allies to work on a project that goes far beyond these little political adventures”, declared on BFMTV the one that rumors claim to be tempted by the Zemmour adventure…
“You’re nothing without Marine!” »
And if during her development Marine Le Pen took care in front of the cameras to specify that her remarks were not aimed at Nicolas Bay in particular but applied “in general” to those who would like to leave her, internally the exchanges were much more tense: “We’re taking you to Madrid and you want to get out? You are nothing without Marine! “Launched the entourage of the president to the MEP…
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The tone changes, therefore, on the side of Marine Le Pen who, had tried the more personal register about Marion Maréchal on Friday. The presidential candidate then deemed it “violent” that her niece was thinking of joining her rival, insisting on the “personal aspect” of their relationship and ensuring that she was “better placed” to win in April than the former columnist. Marine Le Pen (around 17%) being given in the polls in second place in the first round, neck and neck with the LR candidate Valérie Pécresse, ahead of Éric Zemmour (13%).
While rumors evoked a rallying of Marion Maréchal at the beginning of February, the latter first denied, before confiding in the Parisian then in the Figaro to say that she wants to “redo politics” and that she “leans” for Éric Zemmour, without joining him at this stage.
Marine Le Pen, who wanted to show Madrid that sovereignists can “change Europe from within”, has meanwhile struggled to prove that her party is no longer falling back into its old ways of division and other betrayals. Perfect illustration of this tenacious habit dating from the National Front, Bruno Mégret for his part also announced this Saturday in L’Express that he supported Zemmour.