The Atlantic

Marine Le Pen: Madame Présidente?

The far-right candidate leads in French polls, but her challenges may prove insurmountable.
Source: Eric Gaillard / Reuters

Marine Le Pen is hoping the wave of populism sweeping the Western world carries her to the Élysée Palace.

“The wind of history has turned,” Le Pen, who heads the far-right National Front (FN), told a crowd of supporters at the kickoff of her presidential bid earlier this month in Lyon, the industrial city in southeastern France. “It will carry us to the summit.”

Opinion polls have shown Le Pen winning the first round of France’s presidential election in April, only to lose to whomever she faces in the second round of voting in May. That candidate will likely be , the center-right candidate, or , the independent; polls show the two men seesawing between second and third place in the first round. If no candidate achieves a majority in the first round, the top-two vote getters

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