LR Presidency: Retailleau promises a "standard" of the right in 2027

"We aim to have our LR banner (...) in 2027," the minister affirmed in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine), one week before the election next Sunday of the president of the Republicans.

"I say this to those who pretend not to understand," he added in front of nearly 2,000 people, estimated at "more than 3,000" by himself.

He thus implicitly responded to Laurent Wauquiez, who this week mentioned "rumors" about a pact for the presidential election between Bruno Retailleau and Édouard Philippe, the boss of Horizons.

Mr. Retailleau's slogan "the proud and sincere right" also seems to target his rival, often presented by his detractors as "insincere."

The Interior Minister spoke to a committed audience, led by leading party figures. Among them were Senate President Gérard Larcher, Hauts-de-France President Xavier Bertrand, government spokesperson Sophie Primas, and Paris Federation President Agnès Evren.

Arriving to the sound of Queen's "The Show Must Go On," Bruno Retailleau set about firing his arrows at La France Insoumise, which finds itself at the center of the LR presidential campaign.

During this campaign, "I aimed my blows only at my opponents (...)", the minister affirmed, prompting boos from the LFI audience, which he described as "disgraceful".

His opponent, Laurent Wauquiez, faced the national coordinator of La France Insoumise (LFI), Manuel Bompard, during a heated debate on BFMTV.

The leader of the LR deputies reiterated his attacks, which he directs at his rallies against Jean-Luc Mélenchon's party, denouncing a "drift of LFI towards a proximity that goes ever further in the direction of Muslim fundamentalism" and accusing it of "seeking the votes of Islamist communitarianism."

Mr. Bompard, who described the attacks on the LR MPs' boss as "ridiculous" and accused him of "lying like a tooth-puller," counter-attacked by accusing him of "fueling fantasies" about the Insoumis.

"You have come to make people believe that the country's problems are the responsibility of LFI, even though it has not governed this country," he lamented, calling for "sharing the wealth" and "fighting against all forms of racism and discrimination."

"I am facing you because I consider you a threat to the Republic," replied Laurent Wauquiez, who wants to make the Republicans "a bulwark against the LFI project for France."