Le Pen casts herself as France's protector at first campaign rally in Orleans
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Sunday portrayed herself as the guardian of France at her first presidential campaign rally in Orleans, south of Paris, shedding her anti-establishment radicalism to take on that role.
With polls showing her as the front-runner ahead of the presidential election scheduled for April 2027, Le Pen sought to reassure voters by promising to safeguard France as the country faces social unrest and a looming debt crisis.
She said: 'Even if today the words that spring to mind are ruin, decline, riots and even chaos, we believe in our people and in France.'
In a speech lasting over an hour, Le Pen told thousands of supporters that she was not aiming for a 'revolution' but rather 'a real change in power' that would spark a new 'Renaissance' in the country. She said: 'We're not saying: It was better before. We say: It was good before and it will be better tomorrow.'
Le Pen also played her usual refrains, promising to restore public order in France, strengthen the country's borders and expel undocumented migrants if she came to power.
Le Pen and her allies have spent days pushing back against accusations by rivals that the far-right National Rally has helped deepen divisions in France amid the turmoil and disorder sparked by recent student protests. In her address, the four-time presidential candidate refrained from attacking political opponents and pitched her party as the one offering French citizens a brighter future. She said: 'My protective vision will benefit all.'
The eurozone's second-largest economy is facing a cocktail of crises including cost-of-living protests, difficulties adopting a state budget and a spiralling debt and deficit. The dire situation has spooked the markets, with France's borrowing costs climbing above 5 percent last week for the first time since 2002.
According to a senior National Rally official, Le Pen wanted to use her speech to cast herself in a presidential role and to reassure voters hesitant about supporting her. The official said: 'People mostly agree with our ideas, but some still think it's a gamble to vote for us.'
Le Pen's rally was also a show of force, with over 8,500 supporters gathering in a conference hall in Orleans, many carrying French flags and chanting 'Marine, presidente!'
According to Politico's most recent Poll of Polls from mid-October, if the election were held today Le Pen would get 34 percent of the vote compared to 16 percent for centre-right candidate Edouard Philippe and 15 percent for Jean-Luc Melenchon, representing the far left. Most polls have Le Pen winning in a run-off round if no candidate wins a majority in the first round.
Leaders of the far-right party staged a two-day conference in Orleans over the weekend under high security, with heightened police checks and body searches. On Saturday thousands of left-wing demonstrators gathered to oppose the rise of the far right in the centre of Paris, while across the country protests attracted hundreds of thousands of people, a week after looting and riots marred rallies across France.
National Rally President Jordan Bardella, addressing the crowd before Le Pen's speech, said: 'France is plunging into real violence, which will become out of control if the state doesn't take control.' He said: 'The National Rally appears to be the only solution to allow the return of order and return of authority.'
France was already reeling after a man randomly opened fire on passers-by in the Paris suburb of Trappes on Friday, killing one person and injuring five, including a girl of 12. French President Emmanuel Macron deplored the incident as 'a racist terrorist attack.'
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure said on Sunday that the National Rally carried 'a heavy responsibility' for the Trappes attack because it had created 'a mood suggesting that we are being invaded, that there's a sort of great replacement.' The National Rally pushed back on the charges, and instead accused the far left of encouraging the violence.
