The politicians were taking part in a programme called Au Tableau (On the Blackboard), a TV show in which eight-12 year old students posed questions to the presidential hopefuls, reported The Telegraph. France’s next general election will take place on April 10, as President Macron fights to retain his leadership.
Yannick Jadot from the French Greens made a “humiliating faux-pas” when he failed to remember that Romania and Bulgaria were part of the EU.
After initially mixing up Estonia and Lithuania, Mr Jadot responded when asked to name the capital cities of Romania and Bulgaria by saying “you asked me [for countries] in the European Union”, suggesting that the two countries were not members.
They have, in fact, been part of the EU since 2007.
One pupil pointed out that as “an MEP” Mr Jadot should really have known better.
The French Greens candidate admitted: “I love history but confess geography was never my strong point.”
His party is currently sitting at around five percent in the polls, considerably behind far-right candidate Éric Zemmour who is on 11 percent.
However Mr Zemmour, who is fervently critical of Islam and immigration levels in France, had his own embarrassing run-in with a pupil of North African origin.
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Right-wing Valérie Pécresse unwittingly caused laughs when she swore out loud after failing to name a kind of brie cheese.
Communist candidate Fabien Roussel also created a stir when he struggled to answer a child’s question on whether Joseph Stalin was a “comrade” or not.
After putting him somewhere “between” he was forced to retract his answer when a pupil protested that Stalin “killed millions of people”.
The two presidential front runners Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen declined to take part, with President Macron blaming his busy schedule.