Last Monday the top five candidates in the French presidential election faced off in the first ever pre-first-round-voting televised debate.
Though all five candidates debated, the attention was on the top two in the polls right now, Front National leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron, leaving far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, socialist Benoît Hamon, and the right-wing François Fillon to fend for themselves (and screen time) in trying to gain supporters.
Fillon came to the debate prepared to deflect questions about his recent scandal, while socialist candidate Hamon is trying to separate himself from socialist and current President François Hollande’s unpopularity. Mélenchon is just trying to get some voters other than the communists and greens.
Meanwhile, a nervous Macron and a cool and collected Le Pen fought over issues of immigration and France’s place in the European Union. Le Pen accused Macron, who is the youngest candidate at 39, of being inexperience, while Macron accused Le Pen of lying.
Check out some highlights from the fiery debate, and decide for yourself who fared best:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8XAHMwTPkA&w=560&h=315]