French Artists Urge Vote For Emmanuel Macron In Presidential Election, Warn Of Marine Le Pen Agenda

deadline.com:

On April 10, France went to the polls in the first round of voting for the 2022 presidential election. The results pit incumbent Emmanuel Macron versus far right leader Marine Le Pen with the determining second round vote to be held on April 24.

In the wake of the first round, some 400 artists have lent their names to an op-ed published in Le Monde urging the electorate to put its voice behind Macron.Signatories including Juliette Binoche, Jane Birkin, Guillaume Canet, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Mélanie Thierry wrote in the opinion piece, “Without illusions, without hesitation and without trembling, we will vote for Emmanuel Macron.” Of Le Pen, they said, “We cannot imagine, at the head of France, a candidate whose program remains that of xenophobia and withdrawal, a candidate who has made an alliance with totalitarian and warmongering powers.

We cannot imagine what this terrible sign would mean for Europe and for the world.”Populist Le Pen, who has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and was one of the first international politicians to celebrate Donald Trump’s U.S.

presidency, has attempted to soften her image and that of her anti-immigration party, but her program still includes measures that are in contradiction with European treaties, potentially calling into question the freedom of movement of goods, and also of people.In the Monde op-ed, the artists wrote that Le Pen “has never been so close to winning… We are appalled… We have sometimes had differences, oppositions, deep disagreements with the power in place.