Emmanuel Macron get sums wrong in TV debate saying France's economy is BIGGER than it is
EMMANUEL Macron made a gaffe during the French election debate with Marine Le Pen when he got his maths wrong on the economy.
Macron: France has the fifth biggest economy in the world
The 39-year-old bungled his way through questions on his ‘Macronomics’ during last night’s television debate, in which he told millions of viewers from around the world how he promised to set out on a path of global "conquest".
However, he wrongly branded France as the fifth largest economy in the world, the position held by the United Kingdom.
In fact, France has slipped to the sixth largest economy of the world, with the United States holding the top spot ahead of China.
Mr Macron said: "I am defending the spirit of French conquests, France has always suceeded in the world because her language is spoken on all of the continents of the world.
Today we are the fifth economic power in the world
"France's history, France's civilsation, its strength is that its reputation is that it is global and today we are the fifth economic power in the world!"
Mr Macron then clasped his fist and declared: "We are strong in the world and there are a lot of changes that need to be done and I want to introduce changes and there has been an inability for Governments to do so for the last 30 years.
"I have never been president or prime minister, I will do much as I can to remedy that but these deep changes that I want and which led me to resign from the Government when I was a minister, I intend to implement these reforms so that the spirit of conquests will triumph, that's the France I want, that's the France that resembles us."
Mr Macron arrived at the debate in a car cavalcade made up of Peaugot and Ford vehicles.
He arrived with his wife Bridget, 24 years his senior, who has come under scrutiny after it was revealed she had once been his teacher.
He went head to head with Mrs Le Pen, a lawyer, who brought a case load of notes as she went after the pro-Europe socialist banker for selling off French ports to Italians.
Emmanuel Macron sketch: Champion of the big gap
However it was his opening speech in which he tried to present himself as global statesman backfired.
The Presidential debates were live-streamed around the world with millions of people tuning in to watch them in French and English.
En Marche! politician Mr Macron has previously been condemned for his rookie error after describing French Guiana as an island.
On a visit to Algiers in February Macron caused uproar when he said France's history in Algeria was a "crime against humanity."
"It's really barbaric and is part of that past that we must face up to also by apologising to those who were hurt."
However he was later forced to apologise after French critics said he should study the history of the Barbary Slave trade.