French president Emmanuel Macron has been under attack for two months now by the rise of protesters calling themselves the gilets jaunes, or yellow vests. Just about every aspect of his presidency has been questioned or condemned, and as his approval ratings plummet, other French politicians plan to use his corpse as a stepping stone towards power.
One of these politicians is Marine Le Pen, head of the National Rally, formerly known as the National Front. Le Pen was Macron’s biggest opponent in the French presidential election, and remains a staunch competitor for the vote of the people. In particular, their vote for European Parliament in May. Le Pen’s selection of candidates includes a lot of young faces, and also several defectors from France’s mainstream conservative party who have joined the far-right National Rally in recent years. With this slate, Le Pen aims to draw support from young voters, mainline conservatives, and large factions of the gilets jaunes on what appears to be a strictly anti-Macron platform.
Though the vote is months away, Macron has not yet seemed able to pull himself out of the his current PR nightmare. And the name National Rally is becoming more and more accurate every day.
Featured image: Stock Photos from Frederic Legrand – COMEO/Shutterstock
