Millions of French voters watch Macron and Le Pen debate before Sunday's runoff

Millions of French voters watch Macron and Le Pen debate before Sunday's runoff

Transcript¹

French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marin Le Pen met Wednesday night in their only debate ahead of Sunday's runoff vote for president.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine² Le Pen met last night in their only debate before Sunday's runoff vote for president of France. Millions of French voters watched, and so did NPR's Eleanor Beardsley.

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UNIDENTIFIED MODERATOR: Bonsoir, Marine Le Pen. Bonsoir.

MARINE LE PEN: Bonsoir.

UNIDENTIFIED MODERATOR: Bonsoir, Emmanuel Macron.

PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON: Bonsoir.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE³: Macron and Le Pen had 2 1/2 hours to debate the biggest issues facing France and to lay out their visions for the future. Two moderators kept them to topic. Two giant stopwatches kept them to time. Analysts⁴ say Le Pen had to make up for her disastrous⁵ performance against Macron in their debate five years ago.

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MACRON: (Speaking French).

LE PEN: (Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: Le Pen tried to attack Macron and his record and show how she would do things differently, but his vast knowledge of every issue made that difficult. Several times, Macron pointed⁶ out that Le Pen's plans weren't coherent. When talking about energy, she said she would dismantle⁷ windmills and only use nuclear. Macron explained why France needed both. He asked her how she planned to finance projects like retirement⁸ for all at 62. She didn't really have an answer. Thierry Arnaud is managing editor of television station BFM Business.

THIERRY ARNAUD: Sometimes she would get confused, and she would mix up the details. And you know that when you face Emmanuel Macron, you cannot afford to do that because he's going to be on top of every issue. And his ability to - you know, to go deep into any kind of subject is always quite impressive.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MACRON: (Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: When asked about the European Union, Macron credited the bloc⁹ with important advances like creating and distributing the COVID vaccine¹⁰. Being part of the EU means being able to stand up to China and compete with the U.S., he said. While Le Pen no longer advocates leaving the EU, an idea that turned out to be unpopular with French voters after Brexit, she complained that the EU's unfair open-competition laws hurt French producers. Yves Threard, an editorialist with newspaper Le Figaro, told French TV Le Pen had the wrong debate strategy.

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YVES THREARD: (Through interpreter) She was not able to effectively attack Macron and his record, and she presented her ideas, but they were not developed enough. So when she talked about the EU, a major topic, he rightly pointed out that her policies are still a de facto Frexit.

BEARDSLEY: The candidates also clashed on secularism¹¹.

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LE PEN: (Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: Le Pen called the Muslim hijab a uniform imposed by Islamists. She said she wants to ban it in public. Macron pounced¹². He said that would make France, a country of the Enlightenment and human rights, the first ever to ban religious symbols in public. That's not in line with our values, he said, and it would be impossible to enforce. On the war in Ukraine, Le Pen did condemn¹³ Russia's invasion, but she seemed embarrassed when Macron gave details of a loan her party received several years ago from a Russian bank with ties to the Kremlin.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MACRON: (Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: "You can't take a strong stance on Russia because you depend on Russian power and Mr. Putin," said Macron, referring to the Russian president. "Vladimir Putin is your banker." A post-debate poll showed that 59% of the French were convinced by Mr. Macron compared with 39% by Ms. Le Pen. Voters go to the polls Sunday to choose between the two.

Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

8 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

9 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

10 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

11 secularism   

n.现世主义；世俗主义；宗教与教育分离论；政教分离论

参考例句：

• Unless are devoted to God, secularism shall not leave us. 除非我们奉献于神，否则凡俗之心便不会离开我们。 来自互联网
• They are no longer a huge threat to secularism. 他们已不再是民主的巨大威胁。 来自互联网

12 pounced   

v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• As soon as I opened my mouth, the teacher pounced on me. 我一张嘴就被老师抓住呵斥了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police pounced upon the thief. 警察向小偷扑了过去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。