In early polling, he appeared to be the leading centrist candidate to defeat the far right in the upcoming presidential election. However, more recent polling indicated that his lead over former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and conservative leader Bruno Retailleau was shrinking. Both have been campaigning aggressively to surpass Philippe.
In his hour-long speech in Reims, Philippe outlined his campaign goals: reducing taxes on turnover for French companies, cutting France’s public deficit, rebalancing the state pension system, and combating crime and drug trafficking.
Philippe criticized both the National Rally and the far-left France Unbowed party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon for promoting lies and “dangerous ideas” to the French public.
“Look at what the U.S. president, whom Mr. Bardella so admires, is doing to the buying power of the American middle classes through his tariffs and his wars in the Middle East,” he remarked.
“Populism always backfires on the people.”
However, his speech lacked specifics, particularly on contentious issues like France’s retirement age and his strategy for reducing public spending.
He promised to present proposals in the upcoming months.
Leave a Reply