The figurehead of the far left and the man who dreams of becoming Prime Minister of France declared this week: ‘Macron is finished, and his supporters and the right are going to have to choose between us and the National Rally.’
Jean-Luc Melenchon’s boast is borne out by the latest polls. Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is currently top, followed by the left-wing Popular Front coalition, with Macron’s centrists a distant third. Le Pen could even win enough seats to form an absolute majority in the 577-seat National Assembly given the radicalism of many within the left-wing coalition.
Strange as it may seem for a far-left figure like Melenchon, but the Frenchman has learned much from Donald Trump
The centrist ‘Republican Front’, which has kept the Le Pen family at bay for half a century, is crumbling. In recent days respected political and intellectual figures in France have warned that if it comes down to a choice between Le Pen and Melenchon, the latter presents a greater danger to the Republic.

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