Presidential election 2022: Arnaud Montebourg leaves, after having hesitated to give up – archyde

Arnaud Montebourg believed very strongly that it was the end of his presidential campaign. Monday, November 8, fatalistic, resigned, he expected his supporters to desert one after the other, before drawing the curtain. The day before, on LCI and RTL, he proposed to block “All transfers” immigrant money, “11 billion going through Western Union”, to put pressure on countries that refuse to take back their nationals expelled from France.

The former minister of productive recovery of François Hollande caused a conflagration on the left and the amusement of Eric Zemmour. It all started with a referral error. Like every weekend, Arnaud Montebourg brings together his political council, made up of ten people. To try to break through the media ceiling and relaunch a campaign that hardly prints, he absolutely insists on talking about immigration. Even if the following week is rather that of his favorite playground, the “made in France” – he was the champion -, whose show takes place until Sunday, November 14, Porte de Versailles, in Paris. He also has a stand there as a beekeeper.

The famous measure on money transfers, flammable because already proposed by Marine Le Pen in 2018, but without anyone knowing around the political council table, is mentioned and rejected on the spot. His protected custody asks him to favor the soft option, which would freeze the assets of States rather than those of individuals. But, in front of the cameras, in the heat of the moment, the candidate, according to his relatives, tangles the brushes and confuses the two measures.

“He found a certain energy”

He has been doing much better since then. “He found a certain energy”, notes Jérôme Durain, PS senator from Saône-et-Loire. He does not deplore any defection within his campaign team, even if he has been widely rebuffed within his clan, and no longer plans to give up. “His opponents on the left used very harsh words. But when we want to get rid of an opponent, we do not go dead hand “, regrets Valentin Przyluski, president of the Engagement movement, near Montebourg.

It still takes three media interventions, the last of which, Friday, November 12, on the set of BFM-TV, for Arnaud Montebourg to demonstrate a clear act of contrition: “It was a mistake, this measure will not be in my program. “ It is still too early to measure the consequences of such a slippage on the rest of his campaign. ” I do not really know, admits MEP Emmanuel Maurel, founding member of the Republican and Socialist Left, rallied to Montebourg. Of course it was bullshit, but everything is catchable. We told him what we thought. Arnaud has the will to face all problems, but on such complex subjects it is necessary to show judgment. This reminds us of the importance of the collective ”, within which adjustments will be made to put the candidate in better conditions.

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