French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday accused his far-right challenger Marine Le Pen of lying to voters about her “racist” platform, as the gap in voter support for the two political rivals narrows down ever more.
The race appears to be coming down to the two finalists of the 2017 election. While Macron, who entered the race as the clear favorite, appears to have lost ground in recent polls, far-right candidate Le Pen continues on her upward trend.
Macron so far has kept clear of any direct debate, the two have increasingly taken aim at each other from afar. And they were not mincing their words on Friday.
“There was a clear strategy (from Le Pen’s camp) to hide what is brutal in her program,” Macron told Le Parisien in an interview published on Friday.
“Her fundamentals have not changed: It’s a racist program that aims to divide society and is very brutal.”
Le Pen told broadcaster Franceinfo that she was “shocked” at the accusation, which she rejected, branding the president “febrile” and “aggressive”.
She said her program, which includes adding a “national priority” principle to the French constitution, would not discriminate against people on grounds of their origin – as long as they held a French passport.
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