The poll showed that 78 percent of the respondents said that Fillon was "not in touch with their concerns," which signified a loss of 10 points within a little more than two months. In the same period, Fillon lost 16 percentage points in terms of his ability to convince people, dropping to 76 percent.
According to the survey, 75 percent think that Fillon is wrong to have stayed in the presidential race after being placed under formal investigation, and that he should step down.
In early March, Fillon reaffirmed at a press conference his decision to stay in the presidential race despite pledging earlier to drop out if he were personally targeted by a formal investigation. At the same press conference, Fillon confirmed that he had been summoned for questioning before the investigating magistrate over employing his wife in the past as a parliamentary assistant, for which she was paid without allegedly doing the required work.
On Tuesday, a day before the scheduled date, Fillon had to stand before the magistrate, where he refused to answer the questions and offered a written statement instead, in which he reiterated once again that his wife's employment had been real.
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