In an interview with the American broadcaster CBS, French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen rejected the attempted multicultural framing of the issue of immigration in France and defended the need for mass deportations.
Speaking with Blairite bureaucrat turned journalist Trevor Phillips for the once prestigious 60 Minutes news programme, National Rally leader Marine Le Pen said that migrants who fail to adopt French culture or contribute economically should not be permitted to stay and drain the nation of its resources and create divisions.
“When you take in too many immigrants, you create the conditions for destabilising your society. And that is what has happened in France,” she told the UK Guyanese-heritage interviewer. “There is another problem: a problem of numbers. The unemployment rate among foreigners in France is twice the unemployment rate among French citizens. We can no longer import unemployed people.”
Pressed by Phillips whether this was a result of “discrimination” against immigrant communities, Le Pen forcefully rejected the woke framing: “No, that doesn’t exist. You’re not going to import those ideas here.”
“There is no discrimination in France, sir. It’s not true. And I’ll go even further: it’s the least racist,” she declared.
The National Rally leader stressed the importance of migrants assimilating into French culture, rather than allowing multiculturalism to divide society.
“We believe someone who comes to immigrate to our country must blend into the national community. You have something more like a layered cake: each community can live alongside the others while keeping its own customs. That is not how we see things,” Le Pen explained.
Asked whether she would therefore enact a policy of remigration, she said: ” If someone comes and says, ‘I hate you, I despise your culture, I don’t want to respect your laws,’ well, we say to him, ‘Listen, sir, the door is wide open. And we might even, for that matter, force you to leave.”
Philips said that this represented a “startling proposal” and questioned whether Le Pen’s rising popularity was an indication that France was heading down the road of extremism.
“I will not allow people to say that France has become extremist. Over time, French people have got to know me. Has France changed? I think it’s the end of a chapter. It’s the end of a world, a world built on unrestrained globalization. We’ve been seeing the great return of nations for several years now. And I think that’s a good thing,” she responded.
However, noting the recent spate of deeply destructive riots across the country, the presidential frontrunner said that it is the extreme left that is creating “chaos” in France.
“They generate violence against people, against the police, against public property. It’s the same phenomenon all over,” she said.
While Le Pen has led the field of prospective candidates to replace Emmanuel Macron in the Élysée Palace for well over a year, the past month of rioting has seen her lead grow, particularly over rivals representing the so-called centrist position held by Macron and his globalist allies over the past decade.
According to a Harris Interactive poll published on Monday, former Prime Minister and current Mayor of Le Havre Édouard Philippe — who was once tipped as the likely heir to Macronism — has seen his support collapse over the past month, falling to between 11 and 14 per cent in the first round of voting depending on the potential field of candidates. Democratic socialist candidate Raphaël Glucksmann has also reportedly seen a decline in support over recent weeks, falling to between 11 and 13 per cent support.
Conversely, the riots have appeared to politically benefit Le Pen — who has taken a hardline law and order stance towards the unrest — and far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who is now polling between 18 and 19 per cent despite having been accused of fomenting the violent scenes.
However, Le Pen holds a commanding lead over Mélenchon in a potential second and final round matchup, of 68 to 32 per cent. While slightly less definitive, Le Pen also holds a strong lead over all other potential rivals in the second round, with a projected 58 per cent victory over Philippe, and 60 per cent against Glucksmann.
