Presidential 2022: Ménard steps back, Le Pen denies any discomfort – The HuffPost

PASCAL GUYOT via AFP(Robert Menard, mayor of Beziers in March 2018 by PASCAL GUYOT / AFP)BETWEEN-DEUX-TOURS – The mayor of Béziers Robert Ménard, close to Marine Le Pen, will vote on April 24 in favor of the RN candidate in the presidential election despite his “disagreements”, and will no longer speak by the second round, he told AFP, confirming information from Le Monde. “I have disagreements with Marine Le Pen that I never hid. I no longer hear them repeated with each media intervention. I have therefore decided not to speak until the second round”, he declared. “This is not, however, a rallying to Emmanuel Macron. I will vote for Marine Le Pen” on April 24, added the former president of Reporters Without Borders. He is in agreement with the candidate president on the subjects of vaccination against Covid and international politics, not on immigration and security. Interviewed by BFMTV on the sidelines of a trip to Saint-Rémy-sur-Avre (Eure-et-Loir), Marine Le Pen denied any discomfort. “I had Robert on the phone, who told me that he supported me without any difficulty (…) but that he wanted the campaign spokespersons to be able to benefit from the time [de parole lui étant réservé]”, assured the candidate. Differences on the war in Ukraine Robert Ménard recently showed differences with Marine Le Pen, for example on his plan to ban the veil in public space. “It’s a mistake” and “not possible to implement”, according to him. Recently, he was also able to distance himself from the candidate on the war in Ukraine. Following the press conference held by Marine Le Pen on Wednesday April 13 on his vision of French diplomacy, he said on RTL that he did not agree on “a strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia (… ) as soon as the Russian-Ukrainian war is over”. “Today, there are bombs falling on people, you are not going to talk to them about a rapprochement with the guys who are the perpetrators of massacres, rapes, crimes against humanity. On this point, it is a real disagreement. And to continue: “I told him yesterday again: what are you going to show yourself with [le premier ministre hongrois, Viktor] Orban? Orban is not a model of democracy”. “If we have to agree 100% with a candidate, we don’t agree with anyone, added Robert Ménard. I do the pros and cons. On Emmanuel Macron, I find that there are black holes in what he has done over the five years which are worth my not voting for him”. See also on The HuffPost: These Marseillais do not want Macron, but they will block Le Pen