To prevent a debacle in the European elections on 9 June, President Emmanuel Macron has not ruled out confronting far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a debate. The idea of such a duel, first reported on Sunday by the newspapers Le Parisien and La Tribune Dimanche, is one of several possible scenarios, the French presidency confirmed to Le Monde. "Regarding the ways in which the president of the Republic will be involved in this campaign, everything remains open," said a source at the presidential palace. "When it comes to talking about Europe and France, we can always count on the head of state."
Le Pen, reached for comment on Sunday evening, said she had "had absolutely no discussions with [Macron or his staff] about a debate." But she pointed to her previous statement, on April 21, when she told the news channel BFM-TV, "why not?" in response to a question about debating Macron. "If he proposed it to me, I wouldn't rule out taking part on principle. But above all, I'd propose a debate after the European elections, in September, to find out where he's taking us, what he intends to do with the last three years" of his term, Le Pen said on Sunday.
Such a face-off would illustrate the battle between "nationalists and progressives" that the president's coalition has sought to establish. It would also demonstrate how important the European elections are to the president, and allow Macron, who is constitutionally barred from standing in the 2027 presidential elections, to throw all his energy into a final campaign. Even if this would mean making the European elections look like a re-run of the battles fought in the second rounds of the French presidential elections in 2017 and 2022, both of which he won comfortably.
Macron has been described by those around him as effusive, bursting with eagerness to get involved in his coalition's ill-prepared campaign for the European elections. To date, Valérie Hayer, the lead candidate for the presidential bloc's list for the election, is floundering in the polls, lagging far behind the Le Pen's Rassemblement National (RN) party and its lead candidate, Bardella. A June 9 debacle against the RN, which has claimed to be the only real "alternative" to the current government, would further complicate the end of Macron's term in office. (His term ends in 2027 and he cannot run for a third consecutive term.)
The president, enraged by the "spirit of defeat" which, in his view, pervades some of his supporters, has been speaking out more and more. He made a speech at the Sorbonne university on April 25 and gave interviews to La Tribune Dimanche and Elle on May 5 and 8, hoping to breathe new life into his coalition for the European elections. On Sunday evening, the Elysée Palace was still congratulating itself on the success of videos from that weekend, which showed the president answering questions on Europe asked by people on the Internet. Excerpts from these videos were released on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, X, etc. In total, these "capsules" garnered, according to Elysée calculations, 39.5 million views. "Not bad, no?" said a source from within the presidential palace.
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