For his first debate as a presidential candidate, Eric Zemmour faced Bruno Le Maire, Thursday, December 9, 2021. The two men opposed their visions of France during heated exchanges, live on France 2.
There are two opposing visions of France, with (almost) no common ground, sometimes in listening and respect, sometimes in a deafening din. Eric Zemmour and Bruno Le Maire debated in front of the cameras of France 2, Thursday, December 9, 2021, as part of the political program of the public service “Elysée 2022”. For an hour, the presidential candidate and the Minister of the Economy discussed two main issues: finances and identity.
For Eric Zemmour, this meeting was like his real test as a contender for the Elysee Palace. Round glasses on the eyes, his new candidate accessory, he unrolled his proposals, some of which were already known, but with an apparent blur which did not necessarily benefit him. As when he launches that he intends to recruit 1000 doctors paid by the State, without specifying how to recruit them, or when he details his system to increase the net salary of a minimum wage of 100 euros per month by a decrease of the CSG for these employees, itself financed by the establishment of a national preference for social allowances. 20 billion in revenue, 15 billion in expenditure, these are the calculations put forward by the polemicist, impossible to verify, himself as well as Bruno the Mayor agreeing, the latter estimating the revenue from a reduction in the distribution of social allowances to 6 billion. The former Figaro journalist also appeared next to the plate when a youngster asked him how he expected to help his age group make ends meet and find housing: by exemption from “notary fees” for a first-time buyer under 25, up to the limit of a purchase of 250,000 euros.
Passes of arms on the CSG, the Constitutional Council and the Occupation
The point of the decline of the CSG especially made Bruno Le Maire jump. Because the tenant of Bercy recalled that it was not a question of a contribution but of a tax, and that “everyone must be equal before the tax”, warning that the Constitutional Council would revoke such a device . “It is not the Constitutional Council which will lead”, launched, vindictive, Eric Zemmour. Enough to leave room for a heated exchange, between the voice of the people and respect for the Constitution. Bruno Le Maire also appeared, as strongly envisaged, in the campaign for Emmanuel Macron, unrolling the five-year economic report, praising the measures taken to deal with the Covid-19 crisis, in particular partial unemployment, ensuring that the country was reindustrialising.
The debate also escalated on the history of France, especially during the Second World War, a period about which Eric Zemmour assured that Marshal Pétain had “protected the French Jews”. A position reiterated, to which was added a refusal to recognize the responsibility of France in the roundup of the Vel d’Hiv: “France was in London. France has no responsibility in the roundup of the Vél d’Hiv , it was the Germans who imposed it “. Bruno Le Maire replied: “René Bousquet, Paris police prefect, and Pierre Laval all participated knowingly and voluntarily and not under the orders of the Nazi regime”. Tense exchanges followed 2.8 million viewers on average.
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The polemicist was, Thursday, December 9, 2021, the guest of Léa Salamé and Laurent Guimier. The first part of the evening was devoted to a classic interview on Eric Zemmour’s presidential project. France 2 then planned several sequences: one called “French Words”; an “immersion report meeting the French in the region”; a sequence where 18-year-old French asked questions to the guest.
The announcement was made on October 11 by Le Figaro: Eric Zemmour was expected to appear on the France 2 political program “Elysée 2022”. On December 1, the poster was unveiled by Le Parisien: Eric Zemmour facing Bruno Le Maire. This debate between the now presidential candidate and the Minister of the Economy was an opportunity to discuss in more detail economic, financial and purchasing power issues, but also “cultural” and “migration” issues. as specified by the tenant of Bercy on Europe 1 on December 5.
Eric Zemmour’s economic program is still very vague, although the candidate has broadly announced that he wants to reindustrialize France, increase the lowest salaries and save on social security, without reducing the protection “of the French”. According to the first lines of his economic program published on his website, Eric Zemmour wants a reduction in taxes, deeming the “tax system unfair, hard on the small and weak on the strong”. He thus advocates reducing production taxes.
On the industry side, the candidate wants “to relax the competitive dogmas of Brussels, which oppose the constitution of national champions in Europe while leaving our market open to extra-European giants”. In addition, he wishes “to strongly encourage consumers and public procurement to favor national suppliers”. Finally, he promises a salary increase of 100 euros for people earning the minimum wage via a drop in the CSG from 9 to 2.5%, whose incomes, down, would not be impacted according to his statements because Eric Zemmour wishes to apply national preference for the payment of social allowances. So many ideas that he can compare and detail with Bruno Le Maire.