Marine le Pen set a public relations trap for rival presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday when she showed up among striking French workers at a closing factory the day he was meeting their union representatives a few miles away. The far-right le Pen unexpectedly turned up at the tumble-drier Whirlpool plant in Amiens, in the northern rustbelt and whipped up passions among workers, accusing centrist frontrunner Macron of showing “contempt” by not paying them a visit. “Emmanuel Macron is with the oligarchs, with the Medef (employers’ association)...I am with the French workers,” she said.
The 39-year-old Macron, seeking to counter-attack, later turned up at the site in his hometown and was met with hecklers. Tyres were set ablaze in protest. But Macron stood his ground for more than an hour putting his case to the workers, and the atmosphere gradually calmed during an encounter that was broadcast live.
He accused le Pen, who was shown smiling and taking pictures with the workers, of cynically trying to exploit the situation and lying to workers when she said she would put a end to U.S.-based Whirlpool’s plans to relocate production to Poland. He shook hands cordially with some workers before leaving.
“Mrs le Pen came to take selfies for 15 minutes and then she was gone,” Macron told a packed rally later in town of Arras. “She decided to stage a PR coup with the social situation that we know. She came to take advantage of poverty.” The clash between the two contenders for the decisive round of the presidential election on May 7 marked a sharp escalation in the campaign, with le Pen taking the initiative and forcing Macron to step up his game after lying low for a few days.