Valerie Heyer vs Jordan Bardella: first duel at the top on BFMTV

Accused of running away from debate, Jordan Bardella is undisguisedly looking forward to a big confrontation. The head of the RN list, the favorite in these European elections with about 31% in the polls, will face Valerie Heyer this Thursday, May 2, in a debate on BFMTV. The opponent of the majority, who is in much greater difficulty (about 17%), who sees a threat from Raphael Glucksmann, dynamic in the polls, returning behind him.

This debate is “an important meeting,” Bardella said this Wednesday in Perpignan ahead of his big meeting. The reason is simple: he more or less embodies what the young PH boss has been trying to say since the beginning of his campaign, last September, for a “midterm election” that will allow PH to feel its wings growing in anticipation. 2027. So, the boss of the frontist decided to take the matter seriously. He surrounded himself with those who matter on Monday morning at the RN’s Paris headquarters in a three-hour meeting focused largely on the match.

Around him: his campaign manager Alexandre Loubet, the secretary general of the RN group in the Assembly Renaud Labaye and his deputy Jean-Philippe Tanguy, Philippe Olivier, MEP and adviser-in-law Marine Le Pen. And the boss herself, obviously. As a bonus: two members of “Horace”, that secret cabinet made up of experts of all stripes (senior civil servants, business executives, etc.) to defend Bardella on significant issues.

“It will not be project against project, but assessment against project”

The point is exactly what Valerie Heyer’s teams will try to make on Thursday night. “It doesn’t have a balance sheet, it’s a bankruptcy filing,” says the majority spokesman. “It will not be project against project, but evaluation against project,” Jordan Bardella answered in front of thirty journalists this Wednesday before his meeting. To decide between them, BFMTV has planned several episodes. Some current issues. Then discussions on four topics: Ukraine and defense, agriculture and ecology, purchasing power, energy and social Europe. And finally, immigration. At the end, the two candidates will be given carte blanche, with each of the two opponents able to choose their favorite topic.

Valerie Heyer, still unknown to the general public, is also unknown to the National Rally. Several RN executives reviewed his debate with Marion Maréchal on 8 April. “I wanted to watch his posture, listen to him. Is this more of a technical or political issue? ” the participant admits. This, in fact, will be one of the questions of this discussion. Stylistic confrontation between the television beast and the technician. An outsider’s position is not necessarily as delicate as such a discussion approaches. “Expectations for our candidate are low,” said one campaigner. All we need is an uppercut that will send Bardella reeling…”

Will Valerie Heyer, who briefly worked in television, be able to achieve this? Many say that his ownership of the files could help him a lot. “She does everything she can using her experience in the media,” says the MP. Considering the number of big names who have refused to go and the competition of cover since the start of the campaign, she has nothing to learn. »

“You have to go slowly, staying at the bottom”

People around her dream of seeing her demonstrate the “incompetence and superficiality” of Jordan Bardella. Among the angles of attack determined by the majority is, of course, greater freedom of action for the head of the list in the European Parliament, as well as the votes of his troops. “How can you have credibility if you don’t vote for the recovery plan, when you say you’re against immigration but vote against the migration pact? “asks the majority leader. But they swear that preparations for this meeting did not take up the activity of the last few days. “We are seriously working on this point. But we are not going to stop campaigning for a one-hour debate. »

On Team Bardella, we tell ourselves that we probably shouldn’t be too aggressive. “She is not irritable, not arrogant. So there is no point in going after him. You have to walk slowly, staying at the bottom,” analyzes our participant in the video session. “We want to refute his arguments that Jordan is not working to show that he stands firm on the merits of his cases,” said an RN executive present at Monday’s training. “You have to be careful with the words you choose…” Bardella told the small audience that day. Just to avoid being sued for sexism.

But the debate that the National Rally president is looking forward to most is the debate between him and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. Initially reluctant, the Prime Minister decided to launch a second campaign, which was unsuccessful. Some majority leaders are already fearing the worst. “The French love election duels,” says one of them. It’s a challenge not to overtake Glucksmann. In a three-way match, the third one always disappears. »