The political trap is set. At the cost of a divide between the majority of vaccinated and a recalcitrant minority, Emmanuel Macron has transformed the health crisis into campaign terrain and drawn a divide to his advantage … to the chagrin of the far-right populists. Three hours before the publication of the interview at Parisian, Tuesday January 4, Eric Zemmour prayed to his activists, in an art gallery of the 4e arrondissement of Paris, to tirelessly carry the subject of “Great replacement”, xenophobic theory that he wants to impose as “Central theme” in the countryside. “Do not fall into the trap of Emmanuel Macron. Let’s not let this election be stolen ”, he launched, accusing the Head of State of wanting “Make the Covid the subject of this presidential election”.
Already, Marine Le Pen and the former CNews polemicist were struggling to stand out with solutions to get out of the health crisis. Opposed to compulsory vaccination and passes (health or vaccination), they showed little inclination to actively promote injection in the name of ” individual liberty “. In reality, they were trying to make ends meet in a deeply divided electorate. Almost half of their potential voters (47%) ” do not understand “, even “Condemn” antivax and sanitary pass, according to the survey by Cevipof and Ipsos-Sopra Steria in its wave of December 2021 for The world. A constraint all the heavier as more than 6 of their voters out of 10 declare that the health crisis will count in their vote in April.
Divergences from the nationalist camp
“We have an electorate that is divided 50-50, recognizes Nicolas Bay, MEP National Assembly (RN) and spokesperson for the campaign. Some of our voters are not shocked by Macron’s words, nor opposed to the vaccine or the vaccination pass, it’s true … but that does not mean that they want aggression once morest the unvaccinated. Macron hurts a lot of people, including those vaccinated by resignation. “ Symbol of the differences of the nationalist camp, Robert Ménard defends the compulsory vaccination and the vaccination pass. “In Béziers, there are ten people hospitalized in sheaves, the ten are not vaccinated, justifies the mayor, taking back his populist allies. To boast of defending freedoms in the face of the epidemic is absurd and it is even a mistake. We are not going to pamper an obscurantist medieval minority! “
But the exit of Emmanuel Macron pushes Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour to carry the voice of the unvaccinated. Jordan Bardella, the president of the RN, activated Wednesday on CNews the chorus of the “Health dictatorship” (“We are no longer in a democracy”), criticizing the too frequent booster dose and a vaccine that “Does not work to limit the circulation of the epidemic”. Similarly, Marine Le Pen insisted at the microphone of Franceinfo on the fact that the vaccine “Does not prevent being contaminated or infecting others”. “So the argument consisting in saying that, when one is not vaccinated, one contaminates others with impunity is fallacious”, deduced the candidate from the RN. After voting to suspend the vaccine pass bill on Monday, RN deputies hammered home that “The unvaccinated are not second-class citizens”, while Eric Zemmour defended “A category of French” judged “Despised”.
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