Senator RN Stéphane Ravier does not speak a word of English. “I only know lyrics from AC / DC… and again, I don’t know what that means! », He laughs. This does not prevent the elected Marseille from wanting to be part of the delegation of the National Gathering which will fly to the United States to attend Donald Trump’s last meeting.
As had revealed Le Figaro, the party’s vice-president, Jordan Bardella, and the head of the RN delegation to the European Parliament, Jérôme Rivière, are invited from October 30 to November 4 to tour the key state of Pennsylvania on voting day. They will then follow election night in Washington with members of the Republican candidate’s campaign team. The RN MEP and personal friend of Marine Le Pen Catherine Griset, as well as two parliamentarians, Danish and Estonian, will accompany them. A sign of clear support for the American president seeking re-election… but in which the president of the RN will not participate.
Would the re-election of populist Donald Trump be good news for her? “If Joe Biden (Editor’s note: his Democratic opponent) was elected, it would be a real disaster “, replied Marine Le Pen, in the form of understatement, on October 11 on the set of France 3. Trump” carries a vision of a multipolar world, a desire to get out of this free generalized exchange […] which is more positive for France than what we have experienced in the past, ”she added.
“We’re not crazy about the character”
Support that is both clear and… careful. Marine Le Pen knows that a re-election of Donald Trump could revive his own presidential dynamic for 2022. The surprise victory of the thunderous billionaire in the White House in 2016 had already changed the gaze of observers in France on his ability to one day reach the supreme function. But the head of the RN also knows that the whimsical character who occupies the Oval Office is anything but popular in France. According to a recent YouGov poll, only 10% of French people want Donald Trump to be re-elected. Admittedly, this share rises to 22% among supporters of the RN, but even among this category, they are more likely (36%) to prefer to see a victory of Joe Biden.
“We’re not crazy about the character. But Trump has been a good president for his country. It did not involve the United States in a military adventure ”, defends Jérôme Rivière who has already gone to the Republican convention in August. As echoing the writer Michel Houellebecq who, in January 2019 in Harper’s Magazine, described Trump as “quite disgusting” “on a personal level”, while considering that he seemed to him to be “one of the best presidents that has known America ”.
Marine Le Pen has moderated her enthusiasm
However, the American president has not always been gentle with France and Europe, not hesitating to engage in a real customs war. “Trump thinks of the interests of the Americans as we think of those of the French,” RN MEP Thierry Mariani defends. Obviously we are not in favor of the United States imposing taxes on Airbus. But that he defends his interests, that’s normal. “
Still, over time, Marine Le Pen moderated the enthusiasm that was hers for a Donald Trump that she had tried – in vain – to meet in New York just after his election. In January 2017, then a candidate, she ignited for her “intelligent patriotism” and congratulated herself, after his pressure on Ford: “He still succeeded with a tweet in relocating more jobs than Sarkozy and Hollande combined in ten years. “
“On the management of the Covid, he made a number of serious mistakes”
Then, over the course of the crises, criticism eventually emerged. After the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris climate agreements in June 2017: “I regret Donald Trump’s decision, but each nation must have its sovereignty. After the exit from the agreement with Iran and the transfer of the American embassy to Jerusalem in May 2018: “Trump took responsibility by lighting a match near a gas station. “Or, more recently, on the management of the Covid crisis:” Donald Trump made a number of serious mistakes, just like the French government. “
“It’s strange going to a Trump campaign rally. It gives the impression that we are campaigning for him. He defends subjects which are close to ours, but we are not Trumpist activists, ”worries, on condition of anonymity, an elected RN. Not enough to change Stéphane Ravier’s mind: “As soon as Trump is hated by the system, he interests me. It’s a reflex! After all, in “Highway to Hell” Bon Scott, the former voice of AC / DC, sings well that he “does not need a reason” to embark on “the highway to hell. “.
Original article by : www.leparisien.fr
