Le Pen casts herself as defender of poor in fight for left votes

Bloomberg

Nationalist leader Marine Le Pen cast herself as the only candidate able to defend the poor in a clear pitch to left-wing voters, as a tight race for the French presidency enters its final phase.
“I am fundamentally attached to social dialog,” Le Pen said during an hour-long interview with France Inter radio. Her rival, President Emmanuel Macron, “has killed unions, he has completely killed social dialog,” she said. “I want to give the French people their money back.”
With less than two weeks before the final runoff ballot on April 24, both Le Pen and Macron are eyeing the 7.7 million people who backed far-left veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon in the first round of the election. The president spent hours talking to voters about purchasing power, pensions and employment in the former industrial heartlands of the north.
When asked how she’d win over that part of the electorate, Le Pen said she alone can offer them “protection.”
Le Pen’s protectionist stance on economic issues has already allowed her to reach some voters who have traditionally backed left-wing candidates and have been angered by Macron’s support for business and investment.
The 53-year-old nationalist finished 4.7 percentage points behind Macron. Melenchon came third. While polls give the president an advantage, Le Pen has already added more than 10 points to her showing last time, leaving the contest tighter than expected.
Le Pen lashed out at Melechon in the interview for betraying his supporters by not backing her — the lefitst urged his voters not to give her “a single vote” in his concession speech, while stopping short of endorsing Macron, whom he accused of favoring the wealthy.
“Melenchon’s behaviour was a great source of astonishment to me,” she said. “He was tougher on Macron five years ago,” she added in a reference to the 2017 election. Le Pen called Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age to 65 deeply unfair.
Polls have shown that purchasing power is a top concern for the French as the war in Ukraine exacerbates rising costs of energy and food. Le Pen has surged on a platform that put the cost of living ahead of immigration, historically her flagship cause. Macron’s initial emphasis was on foreign affairs and his successful steering of the country throughout the pandemic and the war.
But as he ramps up his campaigning, the economy is taking center stage. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, speaking on TV almost at the same time as Le Pen, said her economic agenda would increase poverty and deepen social divisions.
“Our proposals on purchasing power are more efficient and fairer than those of Marine Le Pen,” he said.
In northern France, in another clear effort to appeal to the working-class voters who would be most affected, 44-year-old Macron said he might be willing to tweak his pension reform plans. “I am opening the door very clearly,” he said. “Maybe, if there are too many tensions, we have to stop in 2027, and not carry on” with the reform. That would raise the retirement age to 64, rather than 65.