Pressure mounts on Fillon to quit French presidential race

World Today

A new poll suggests conservative Francois Fillon could be knocked out after the first round of voting on April 23.

Pressure is growing on French presidential candidate Francois Fillon to withdraw from the race. Fillon is sinking in the polls amid a probe into whether he illegally paid his wife government money.

CGTN’s Kevin Ozebek reports from Paris.

A new poll suggests conservative Francois Fillon could be knocked out after the first round of voting on April 23.

Fillon’s republican base is cracking as investigators continue looking for evidence to determine if he paid his wife $900,000 in public money for a parliamentary assistant job she didn’t perform.

In just the past week, detectives raided Fillon’s home, and two top aides quit the campaign.

As Fillon struggles, centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron is surging.

New polling suggests for the first time that he would gain the most votes in the first round of voting.

Far-right National Front Leader Marine Le Pen also is polling well, but getting to the second round is not guaranteed.

If Fillon steps down and he is replaced by well-known Republican Alain Juppe, polls suggest Juppe would knock Le Pen out of the race.