Runoff approaching
French independent centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, right, touches hands with supporters during a campaign rally in Albi, southern France, on Thursday. The 39-year-old independent candidate faces far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen in Sunday’s presidential runoff.
ALBI, France — Fake news and alleged hacking attempts dominated France’s tense presidential campaign Thursday with just two days left for independent Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival Marine Le Pen to win over voters before Sunday’s high-stakes runoff.
Paris prosecutors launched a preliminary investigation Thursday into whether fake news is being used to influence the voting as the two candidates campaigned in opposite parts of the country.
The move came hours after Macron filed suit against unknown source “X” after Le Pen suggested during their only one-on-one debate Wednesday night that the former banker could have an offshore account.
“I hope we won’t find out you have an offshore account in the Bahamas,” Le Pen said.
She appeared to be referring to two sets of apparent forgeries, published just hours before their heated showdown, that purported to show Macron was somehow involved with a Caribbean bank and a firm based on the island of Nevis.
Macron’s camp said the former investment banker was victim of a “cyber-misinformation campaign.” Speaking on France Inter radio, Macron blamed Le Pen for spreading “fake news” and said he never held a bank account “in any tax haven whatsoever.”
“All this is factually inaccurate,” Macron said.
On the campaign trail, Macron visited disgruntled workers Thursday at a glass factory in Albi near the southern city of Toulouse before holding his last campaign rally in which he called on voters from the left and the right to choose his reformist, pro-European platform.
Macron arrived to booing and slogan-shouting from dozens of protesting workers. But after 15 minutes of talking, the 39-yearold front-runner managed to calm some of their anger.
Union leader Michel Parraud called Macron “very kind and very polite,” although he said he didn’t think the pro-business centrist would do much for factory workers.
Macron pledged to “give strength back to the country” and “build a more efficient and fair society,” speaking from an open-air stage in Albi’s central square.
Le Pen, who spent Thursday in a small northern French village, quickly backed away from the suggestion Macron might have an offshore account but prosecutors soon launched a probe into suspicions of forgery and the spreading false news in order to divert votes.
In the alleged documents, the “M” in Macron’s purported signature didn’t match his genuine sign-off, and whoever wrote the documents appeared confused as to whether the firm was a limited company or a limited liability corporation. Metadata embedded in the document suggest it was created just before being posted online — undermining the anonymous poster’s claim to have circulated the documents to “hundreds of French journalists” who had “all sat on this.”
Asked Thursday on BFM TV whether she was formally accusing Macron of having a secret offshore account, Le Pen said: “Not at all. If I wanted to do so I would have done it yesterday. I’ve just asked him the question. If I had proof, I would have claimed it yesterday.”