Donald Trump spoke words of support the far right candidate, and Russia tried their email hacking tricks, but centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron has won the French presidential election with 65% of the vote and a 30 point victory over Marine Le Pen.
Macron defeated Le Pen 65.1%-34.9% to become the youngest president in French history.
In an April interview with the AP, Trump claimed that the recent terrorist attack in Paris would help Le Pen, “I think that it’ll probably help her because she is the strongest on borders and she is the strongest on what’s been going on in France.”
Le Pen underperformed what many polls had her at before the election, as the idea of a right-wing movement sweeping through the West was dealt a crushing blow. The Russians tried to interfere, but the French media wouldn’t play along and allow them to disrupt the election.
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The Trump election is looking more like a fluke that happened because Trump and Russia were able to exploit the US media than a sign of any right-wing wave.
There will be no French Brexit, as the French election has shown the limits of right-wing nationalism.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
