Just before half past four, Marine Le Pen took to the stage under the stadium strobe lights at the Zénith Arena in Orléans. The radical-right leader, whom analysts say is on the doorstep of the presidency, is polarising, yet deeply and increasingly popular with her base, and has topped the popularity polls for months in France. This came 24 hours after the latest protests across the country, which included over ten thousand anti-Le Pen demonstrators outside the venue yesterday.
The lead-up had seen some problems play out with the press: four journalists from the investigative team Mediapart were ejected. There is ongoing animosity between the party and the online site, which had published private Facebook messages allegedly written by Jordan Bardella as a teenager, containing highly antisemitic language. He has sued for defamation and described it as a political attack designed to damage the credibility of the National Rally. The journalists were allowed back later. We'll get to that in a moment.
