As the 2018 Yellow Vests protests in France continue, polls show that National Rally leader Le Pen has more support than the country’s President in crisis, Macron.
The YouGov poll shows a +2 per cent increase for Le Pen putting her in first place with 19 percent, while Macron has dropped a further 3 percent, showing that his presidency is in free fall with only 18 percent of respondents voting for him.
France, YouGov poll:
Approval ratings (president+party leaders)
Le Pen (RN-ENF): 19% (+2)
Macron (LREM-ALDE): 18% (-3)
Mélenchon (FI-LEFT): 15% (+1)
Dupont-Aignan (DLF-EFDD): 14% (+3)
Hamon (G.s-S&D): 11% (-3)Field work: 28/11/18 – 29/11/18
Sample size: 1,006 pic.twitter.com/ai6bvztwXh— Europe Elects (@EuropeElects) December 7, 2018
Two weeks ago, a different poll, showed the same result for Le Pen, suggesting that French voters now realise that they made the wrong choice during the presidential elections in May 2017.
According to Le Pen, the Elysée has been trying to suppress her social media account. She accused the Macron team of trying to remove one of her messages on Twitter. “They really have a problem with democracy, the Macronists,” she said.
The administration reported her account because of “racist lies and conspiracy of the far right”.
In a television interview, with journalist Thierry Ardisson, Le Pen said mainstream politicians were ignoring the plight of ordinary people. “We have seen the number of farmer suicides multiply over the years. The people suffer martyrdom with great dignity. I consider that which the French people have to live on, on a daily basis, is not permissable.”
She added: “The misery-laden French revolt because of their purchasing power and their dignity. In this context, it is indecent to encourage any new immigration.”
Earlier Le Pen said Europe had its roots in Hellenic-Christian civilization, and that 60 years of Brussels’ rule would not destroy individual cultures.
The government meanwhile announced that Macron would address the nation “in the next few days” as the president continues to hide from the public after the fourth weekend in a row of protests.
Macron has not been seen in public in more than a week. At least one sentiment expressed by graffiti in Paris, has been in the minds of protesters: “You won’t make it past Christmas, Emmanuel.”
Especially since, according to French domestic intelligence services, the mobilization of citizens “rises every day”.
Several regional state prefects were cited by Le Monde as openly criticising the “Parisian arrogance” of the administration, living in a “technocratic bubble” and “without feelers”.
The comments were unusual as French civil servants are normally sworn to silence. “What is expressed the most, is hatred for the President,” said one.
The Paris police chief, from his command room controls, has been struggling to keep the demonstrations from turning violent. “On December 1, it was so confused that some IT, intervention technicians who were responsible to pass on the orders of the prefect to those in the field, had to improvise…”
Le Pen had already warned that Macron had “only a few more hours” to stop the revolt from spiralling out of control, before the weekend of fresh riots.
Without “important, audible and immediate” measures, she predicted, he risked becoming “the first president in half a century to give the order to fire on French people”.