Marine Le Pen, who had eaten into the president’s once\u002Dcommanding 10\u002Dpoint poll lead in recent weeks, said she was the one to protect the weak and unite a…
With partial results putting Macron in first place ahead of Le Pen after the first-round voting, other major candidates admitted defeat. Except for another far-right candidate, Eric Zemmour, they all urged voters to block the far-right in the second round.
Ifop pollsters predicted a very tight runoff, with 51% for Macron and 49% for Le Pen. The gap is so tight that victory either way is within the margin of error. “What will be at stake on April 24 is a choice of society, a choice of civilization,” she told supporters, who chanted “We will win!” as she told them: “I will bring order back to France.”Article content
France would lurch from being a driving force for European integration to being led by a euro-skeptic who is also suspicious of the NATO military alliance.