Gabriel Attal and Jordan Bardella will meet this evening at 8:15 p.m. on France 2 for a high-stakes duel as the Europeans approach. Follow the final preparations.
The essential
- France 2 is organizing a debate this Thursday evening between the president of the National Rally Jordan Bardella and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, just over two weeks before the European elections. The confrontation can be followed from 8:15 p.m. on the second channel as well as on TV5 Monde.
- This duel between Jordan Bardella and Gabriel Attal a few weeks before the European elections arouses criticism: on the absence of the head of the Macronist list Valérie Hayer, replaced by the Prime Minister, but also on that of Raphaël Glucksmann, although neck and neck elbow with Valérie Hayer in the polls.
- Following the debate, four heads of the list will be received on the set by journalist Caroline Roux: Manon Aubry (LFI), François-Xavier Bellamy (LR), Marie Toussaint (EELV) and Marion Maréchal (R!).
- A few hours before the debate, the two adversaries are completing their preparations. Gabriel Attal, who “did not have much preparation time” according to those around him, today sharpens his arguments with a “fake Bardella” in his office. On the RN side, preparations began last Wednesday.
Live
15:06 – Attal’s strategy: “dramatize” the danger of a “brown wave”
The Prime Minister’s teams readily admit: to convince the National Rally, Gabriel Attal will have to “dramatize” the consequences that a “brown wave” would have in the European Parliament on June 9. This will be, according to the sources of Worldto present Valérie Hayer’s list as “the only truly pro-European” in the face of “battalions of far-right apparatchiks”.
14:58 – Bardella “can say anything with great confidence”, according to Attal
Gabriel Attal does not take his opponent lightly: according to the Prime Minister, Jordan Bardella is “a good debater who can say anything with great confidence”, reports Le World. The two men have already faced each other six times during the 2022 presidential campaign.
14:31 – Attal must flush out Bardella’s “lies” and “inconsistencies”
Gabriel Attal’s team carefully watched the debate between Jordan Bardella and Valérie Hayer at the beginning of May. In their eyes, Jordan Bardella has managed to direct the debate on his favorite subjects, to the detriment of European issues. This evening, Gabriel Attal’s strategy will therefore consist of reframing the debate on the European elections, confides his entourage to Worldand to point out the “lies” and “inconsistencies” of his opponent.
13:42 – Jordan Bardella, “it’s Jean Dujardin in OSS 117”
In the corridors of the Elysée, there is total confidence in Gabriel Attal as tonight’s debate approaches. Jordan Bardella is “taken”, we assure the World. We even go so far as to ironize about the adversary: ”Bardella disguises himself as the 1977 version of Chirac. But in reality, it’s Jean Dujardin in OSS 117.” A punchline reminiscent of that of the communist Léon Deffontaines addressed to the RN candidate, during Tuesday’s debate on LCI: “Ok OSS 117!”
12:59 – Attal spoke with Macron on the debate last weekend
In the midst of crisis management in New Caledonia, Emmanuel Macron still found the time to discuss with his Prime Minister last weekend about the debate against Jordan Bardella, according to information from Politico. In the entourage of the head of government, confidence is rather required as the duel approaches: after having carefully watched the debate of the president of the RN with Valérie Hayer, “we said to ourselves that it was really very takeable” , assures a member of Gabriel Attal’s entourage, who noted “visible signs of arrogance, annoyance, even panic” on the part of the European favorite.
12:25 – “It’s going to be the event of the campaign”, we hope at Matignon
Among the Macronists, the stakes are high as tonight’s debate approaches: it is a question of making this duel the big event of the campaign. To better eclipse all the candidates who will not be on the France 2 set at 8:15 p.m., led by Raphaël Glucksmann, direct rival of Valérie Hayer in the polls. A minister even sells a “meeting of the titans” to Release. “The confrontation between the Prime Minister and the candidate who is leading the polls, at prime time, is likely to bring the country into the campaign,” said the campaign director of the Renew list, Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade.
11:59 – Gabriel Attal, the “anti-Bardella weapon”?
“Upon his appointment, Gabriel Attal was often presented as the anti-Jordan Bardella weapon. When you have an asset, you use it,” says MEP Nathalie Loiseau at HuffPost. According to the former head of the Macronist list, Jordan Bardella “already sees himself as the Prime Minister of a Marine Le Pen president.” However, “on two occasions, the French were not convinced by the debates of the RN candidate. We will see what they think of Jordan Bardella.”
11:44 – “We are in a position of strength and not a challenger”, believes an RN deputy
For Thomas Ménage, the National Rally has the advantage in this Attal-Bardella debate. “It is the macronie which is in difficulty”, reminds the deputy to Les Echos. Furthermore, “the subjects on which to hold Attal accountable are numerous, whether on New Caledonia” or “the security and penitentiary or economic situation.”
11:31 – A debate to follow live on France 2 and TV5 Monde
Jordan Bardella and Gabriel Attal will meet this evening at 8:15 p.m. on the France 2 set, facing journalist Caroline Roux. But the debate will also be broadcast live by TV5 Monde. The regional daily Ouest France is also a partner of the show.
11:20 – The Attal-Bardella debate, dress rehearsal for the 2027 presidential election?
Jordan Bardella and Gabriel Attal are often seen as the two natural heirs of their camp. Will they come face to face in the second round of the 2027 presidential election? If this were the case, here is how the French could vote:
11:06 – Bardella, the TikTok candidate? Attal is not left out
Raphaël Gluckmann denounced Jordan Bardella’s “TikTok politics” again this morning, on Sud Radio. The president of the National Rally is in fact hyperactive on young people’s favorite social network, which has earned him frequent criticism from his adversaries. But he is far from being the only one to bet on new social networks to reach young people. Gabriel Attal is also very present on TikTok, too. The Prime Minister also made a notable arrival on the BeReal network in February, where he frequently posts photos of his daily life, his family and even his dog.
10:59 – “It’s the debate of emptiness versus emptiness”
The short sentence was dropped by a ministerial advisor in the columns of Les Echos: “It’s the debate of emptiness versus emptiness”. A way of criticizing the importance that Jordan Bardella and Gabriel Attal give to form in their campaign, to the detriment, some deplore, of substance.
10:50 – “They have changed roles a lot since their last debate, especially Attal”
Attal and Bardella have already debated together six times. An advantage ? “Jordan Bardella is sharp. With Gabriel Attal, they know each other well,” says his running mate Philippe Olivier to Echoes. But someone close to the president of the RN warns him on BFMTV: “They have changed roles a lot since their last debate, especially Attal. It’s not the same person opposite.” Their last debate dates back to the 2022 presidential campaign. Since then, Jordan Bardella has been elected president of his party and Gabriel Attal has been appointed Prime Minister.
10:37 – What do Macronist voters think of the Attal-Bardella debate?
“It’s true that basically it’s not Gabriel Attal’s role” to debate against Jordan Bardella, “but he sees that the campaign is not taking off, so he has no choice,” confided support from Valérie Hayer’s list at HuffPost, on May 7, during the big meeting at the Mutualité de Paris. For another, the Prime Minister must “bring down” Jordan Bardella and “put him without his last entrenchments” during this debate. “Valérie Hayer is not alone and a single debate is not enough,” confirms a third.
10:21 – “We are not condemned to this endless match,” argues Glucksmann
Raphaël Glucksmann calls for a “vote of the heart” on June 9. “A vote of the heart doesn’t happen that often, let’s be honest!” The head of the list of the Socialist Party and Place publique on Sud Radio is on fire. “We ask ourselves lots of questions when we go to the voting booth,” admits Raphaël Glucksmann. But he affirms, “people are in agreement with themselves when they come to our public meetings.”
“We are not condemned to this endless match, false match, between Emmanuel Macron, his friends and the far right,” insists the MEP.
Learn more
Gabriel Attal and Jordan Bardella will face each other on the France 2 set this Thursday, May 23 from 8:15 p.m. The 2nd channel expects to achieve very good audiences for the occasion. A time cited to co-broadcast the debate, TF1 will ultimately not be involved. The match will be hosted by journalist Caroline Roux in her show “L’éveil”.
European campaign obliges, Gabriel Attal and Jordan Bardella will be invited to discuss their program for the European Union and the major subjects which animate the European Parliament. According to Le Parisien, the debate will be organized around three major themes: economy and ecology, immigration and asylum, war in Ukraine and European defense.
Yet neck and neck with Valérie Hayer in the polls, the head of the list of the Socialist Party and Place Publique was not invited to Caroline Roux’s show on May 23. France 2 has chosen a duel between the two favorite camps, which has the gift of annoying Raphaël Glucksmann. His ally, the head of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure, also wrote to Arcom on this subject this weekend, asking the audiovisual regulator to “implement [son] regulatory power to ensure respect for the pluralist expression of political debate.
“Do you find it normal for the public service to organize, two weeks before the European election, a debate (…) between the right and the extreme right, excluding the left?” Deplored Raphaël Glucksmann on Sunday May 12 on France 3. The latter denounced a desire to “permanently reestablish this false duel between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.”
Strange choice of poster two weeks before the European elections: if Jordan Bardella is indeed the head of the National Rally list for this election, Gabriel Attal, for his part, does not appear on the list of the Macronist camp. Valérie Hayer, head of the official Renaissance list, will therefore be the other major absentee from this long-awaited evening. Remember that the MEP already debated with Jordan Bardella on May 2, a face-to-face which did not appear to affect the campaign dynamics of the two camps. This time, it is the Prime Minister himself who will come to defend Emmanuel Macron’s record and his European project.
“I also find it abnormal that Ms. Hayer is made invisible and replaced by the Prime Minister, who is not a candidate in the European elections,” pointed out Raphaël Glucksmann on France 3. “It is a disavowal of the Hayer list, that this or not her”, confirms Julien Odoul. But for the RN spokesperson, “given the experience of the debate she had with Jordan Bardella, they are obliged and forced to send the Prime Minister.”