French President Emmanuel Macron has warned of a “civil war” and blood on the streets of France if his rival Marine Le Pen wins the upcoming election.
Following Macron’s humiliating defeat to Le Pen earlier this month in the EU elections, Macron warned that the rise in so-called “far right” ideology will lead to a civil war in France.
Thenationalpulse.com reports: Lashing out at France Unbowed, the leading party in the New Popular Front coalition, he claims “there is a civil war behind” their program too, alleging they “categorize[e] people in terms of their religious outlook or the community they belong to.” He argues this can be “a means of justifying isolating them from the broader national community, and in this case, you would have a civil war with those who do not share those same values.”
Macron’s fearmongering highlights the deepening polarization in French politics as the snap elections approaches. Polls project that National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, will place first—as they did in the recent European elections, with more than double Renaissance’s vote share.
Raheem Kassam, Editor-in-Chief of The National Pulse, argues that the French leader called the election in hopes RN would be too low on resources and disorganized to win an outright legislative majority on short notice.
Macron has experienced mixed results. The French right has imploded amid unsuccessful attempts to unite against him. However, the far left’s consolidation into the New Popular Front means that while RN may not secure an outright majority, Renaissance could fall into third place, likely leading to the ousting of Macron’s prime minister and making it difficult for him to govern.