Marine Le Pen takes her fight to the Right as Macron dips in polls
Marine Le Pen took her fight for the French presidency to the Right-wing Riviera bastion of Nice last night slamming Emmanuel Macron as a puppet of "oligarchs" whose aim is to destroy and "dilute" France.
Her claim came as one poll suggested that Mr Macron's lead had slightly shrunk ahead of the May 7 runoff.
"We can win," Ms Le Pen told supporters at the Nice rally. "Throw them out! We are David against Goliath."
The far-Right contender spent the first first three days after Sunday's first round vote wooing French workers - many of whom had voted for Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the Communist-backed firebrand.
On Thursday, she continued in that vein, accusing Mr Macron of wanting to wage "lightning war on workers".
"The oligarchy has chosen the camp of the banker Macron and wants to use him to place its men, its networks its politicians," she said, calling the ex-investment banker "the armed wing of the system".
But she also set tacked Right, urging the French to back her tough stance on terror, immigration and national identity just eight months after a bloody terror attack in which an Islamist truck driver mowed down 86 people on Bastille day.
Calling the city a "martyred city," she said "I will be the president who wages war on Islamist terrorists", promising to create 50,000 new posts in the French army.
"I will show no weakness," she said in a speech under very tight security, including 25 bodyguards front stage.
The "narcissistic" Mr Macron, on the other hand, was guilty of "high-handedness and indecency" in his stance on security and terror.
"This election is a referendum for or against France. I call on you to vote for France, not Mr Macron…who will lead to its destruction," she said, accusing him of wanting to "accelerate the immigrant flood".
Long the preserve of the mainstream Right, Nice remained loyal to François Fillon, the embattled conservative candidate, in round one, giving him 26 per cent of the vote despite allegations of fake jobs for his family.
Mr Fillon denied all wrongdoing.
But Ms Le Pen was only just behind and Mr Fillon now disqualified, the race is on to seduce his supporters.
An Elabe survey suggested that Ms Le Pen can expect to attract 28 per cent of Fillon voters in round two, making them her biggest potential electoral reserve for round two.
In Nice's old town, Claude Picaud, 69, a semi-retired pediatrician, voted Fillon the first round.
"I'm going to abstain. Marine Le Pen's economic programme doesn't suit me at all, particularly leaving the euro. Macron is the continuation of Hollande, and I'm a Right-winger," he said.
But many others said they would opt for Ms Le Pen, like David Zinet, 56, an estate agent, who had voted Fillon in round one.
"The first priority is security, and Marine will do more. The other is immigration," he added. "There are too many foreigners. I'm for controlling borders."
As for Mr Macron, a former investment banker, he said: "I don't trust him. He's a baby Hollande."
Nice is at a key battle ground for Ms Le Pen, as it is the epicentre of a bitter row within the mainstream Right over how to handle the presidential runoff.
While some fellow Républicains refuse to back Mr Macron, Christian Estrosi, Nice's former mayor and strongman, who is now head of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, has called on Right-wingers to back the centrist.. He wants to "exclude" anyone who doesn't follow suit.
Mr Estrosi received the biggest boo of the night at Ms Le Pen's rally.
Madame le pen se promène à la pêche. Bonne promenade. La sortie de l Europe qu elle propose c est la fin de la pêche française. Pensez y. EM
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) April 27, 2017
It came as an Opinionway poll of voter intentions for the May 7 runoff suggested Mr Macron has lost ground. While he is still expected to win, his score slipped below the 60 per cent mark for the first time, on 59 per cent.
The poll was released a day after striking workers booed Mr Macron during a visit to the Whirlpool tumble-drier factory in his hometown of Amiens. Ms Le Pen appeared to receive a warmer welcome when she unexpectedly turned up there hours earlier.
On Thursday morning, she had hopped onto a fishing boat at dawn as she pursued a guerrilla-style campaign that has upstaged Mr Macron.
"Let me warn you that man will destroy our entire social and economic structure," she told one fisherman.
The meeting came as an Opinionway poll of voter intentions for the May 7 runoff suggested Mr Macron has lost ground. While he is still expected to win, his score slipped below the 60 per cent mark for the first time, on 59 per cent.
The poll was released a day after striking workers booed Mr Macron during a visit to the Whirlpool tumble-drier factory in his hometown of Amiens. Ms Le Pen appeared to receive a warmer welcome when she unexpectedly turned up there hours earlier.
Mr Macron, who champions diversity, meanwhile paid a visit to the multi-ethnic Paris suburb of Sarcelles.
"France is not what Mrs Le Pen says it is. It not this narrow, hateful face put forth by Marine Le Pen," he said.
The far-Right candidate also faced flak from another quarter.
Investigators probing alleged Front National expenses fraud at the European Parliament said the sum involved was now believed to be nearly €5 million, more than twice an initial estimate.
In March, Ms Le Pen invoked her immunity as an MEP in refusing to submit to questioning by French prosecutors until after the election.
"Five million euros, that's nonsense," said Wallerand de Saint Just, FN party treasurer.
