In the midst of the presidential campaign, political attacks have not stopped raining down in France from all fronts, from the far right to the far left, since the wildfires in recent days have taken on an absolutely historic dimension, fueled by extreme heat and drought.
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Marine Le Pen’s National Rally has opposed environmental regulations for years. However, the far-right party is taking advantage of the worst fires the country has suffered in years to argue that President Emmanuel Macron’s government is failing in one of its most basic duties: protecting the population and their homes.
Edwige Díaz, a National Rally deputy and close ally of Le Pen, originally from the Gironde region, hit by the fires, states that these disasters are the latest episode in a series of crises—from extreme weather events to concerns about crime and child safety—that highlight the government’s overall inability to protect citizens.
“All the proposals we have presented for years together with Marine and Jordan (Bardella, president of National Rally)… today we realize that they were the only ones that could have prevented these situations, from protecting us from wildfires to saving our children,” said Díaz. “Current events, unfortunately, prove us right.”
Díaz, vice president of National Rally, added: “In 2024, Gabriel Attal (then prime minister) canceled the purchase of two Canadair tanker planes promised by Emmanuel Macron in 2022. In 2025, Bruno Retailleau (then interior minister) rejected the creation of a Canadair base in Mont-de-Marsan.”
Joining her remarks was Marine Le Pen’s main ally, Éric Ciotti, who tweeted: “Air resources to fight fires have never been a priority for Macron’s supporters. Today we are paying a high price for it.”
In contrast, Le Pen herself adopted a more measured tone. In a post on X, she said the images had filled the country with horror, offered her support to the victims and evacuated families, and praised firefighters and civil protection forces for their “exceptional sacrifice.” She did not directly criticize the government.
According to the European edition of Politico, it is still unclear whether Le Pen’s allies’ arguments will succeed. “But it is possible that National Rally does not need voters to consider it an authority on climate change; its advantage lies, instead, in the declining credibility of the parties that have governed France and in the perception, among some voters, that the State is no longer able to protect them,” it argued.
A recent investigation shared with Politico—based on four focus groups with former center and center-left voters who seemed unlikely to support those parties again—revealed recurring references to a country falling apart. Participants cited a series of recent crises, including the murder of an 11-year-old girl by a suspect previously known to the police, as evidence of government inaction.
That frustration extends to climate change preparedness. In a YouGov survey published this month, 74% of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with Macron’s climate adaptation policies.
“National Rally mechanically benefits from its anti-system stance whenever news arises that gives the impression, accurate or not, that successive governments have not taken effective measures to address the difficulties facing the French people,” said Mathieu Gallard, research director at Ipsos France, a polling company.
But the first secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, denounced on X “a moment of great hypocrisy by the far right.” “In the National Assembly, National Rally voted against hiring firefighters, against increasing their salaries, and against strengthening the resources allocated to them,” criticized the socialist politician.
Joining Faure was the leader of the Greens, Marine Tondelier, who lashed out at “the pyromaniacs of politics,” while her deputies shared images saying: “Don’t count on National Rally to defend firefighters.” The core of the criticism lies in the vote against an amendment presented by the left during the January budget debate, which proposed increasing a tax to better finance the Departmental Fire and Rescue Services (SDIS), which are facing difficulties, indicated the French newspaper Sud Ouest.
Mathieu Lefèvre, Minister for Ecological Transition, responded to criticisms about the lack of resources available to security forces to fight fires. “Regarding resources, I would like to remind you that before Emmanuel Macron, 15 years ago, there were no requests for Canadair tanker planes or Dash planes. These are planes that can drop water or fire retardant. I would also like to remind you that the Civil Security budget has almost doubled, from 450 million euros to 800 million euros between 2016 and now,” he commented on the France Info program “La Matinale.”
“Also, I would like to remind you that the budgets of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Services, their operational resources, have increased by more than 1.3 billion euros in recent years. There are 51 firefighter columns, currently mobilized for these fires, created thanks to Emmanuel Macron’s actions. As you know, generally, it is the same people who refused to vote in favor of these budget increases who now say they are insufficient. All this is nonsense, all this is insufficient,” he denounced.
But the questioning of Macron’s government’s response to the wildfires did not come only from National Rally. From the far left, the president of La France Insoumise (LFI), Jean-Luc Mélenchon, turned the fire ravaging the Gironde region into one of his “main communication priorities,” according to the newspaper Le Temps.
“More than ten days after my initial warning on the subject (…) (Prime Minister Sébastien) Lecornu announces the deployment of A400M planes to reinforce firefighting efforts… by the end of the month… Outrageous!” Mélenchon wrote on social media on Friday. “Adapting the A400Ms is a bit more laborious and complex than a Lego set for children,” responded government spokesperson Maud Bregeon. “Finally, Macron is sending the A400M to the front,” tweeted the French radical left leader on Saturday, as the military plane, which requires specific training for this purpose, was deployed three or four days earlier than planned. “From Macron to (Gabriel) Attal and (Édouard) Philippe, their budget cuts have destroyed our capacity to fight fires,” added LFI deputy Aurélie Trouvé on Sunday.
However, the portal Politique France recalls, LFI’s legislative record tells a different story. On June 28, 2023, when the country was barely recovering from the wave of fires that had devastated the Gironde region a year earlier, the National Assembly examined a bill aimed at strengthening wildfire prevention. The text, considered consensual by many observers, included mandatory brush clearing measures for landowners and better coordination of emergency services.
That day, 19 La France Insoumise deputies voted against it. Among them were emblematic figures of the movement, several of whom still hold seats in the National Assembly. “This decision raises questions, especially since this same group had distinguished itself by its systematic opposition to military spending laws that allowed the acquisition of A400M transport planes, currently deployed on the ground,” the media noted.
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