Analysis by the Ridicule TV YouTube channel showed Le Pen repeated these passages almost verbatim from Fillon’s speech. Florian Philippot, the vice-president of Le Pen’s National Front (FN) party, said it was “not plagiarism”, but “a nod to a short passage in a speech about France”. Le Pen’s spokesman David Rachline said the copied passages in the speech were “appreciated by Fillon’s voters”. While they will not back Le Pen, many say they will stay at home rather than vote for him. Macron fought off accusations from Le Pen that he was controlled by banks.

Source: Mint May 02, 2017 14:15 UTC