France Has A New President: A Young Outsider Who's Also Kind Of An Insider
It’s a big year for European elections. As I detailed in one of the world-famous Riggsy News Minutes on the ex-Facebook Live show known as “Drive Time” (RIP), Europe is going through a series of key elections this year that will set the continent’s geopolitical tone for years to come. Brexit was a massive blow to European unity last summer. The election of Trump a few months later was, again, another jab to “the establishment.” A disapproving message to the way things were and the direction in which they were heading. Obviously the U.S. is not in Europe, but we affect everything. That’s our thing.
In March, the Dutch defeated “The Dutch Trump” party from overtaking parliament. That stopped the bleeding for globalists.
On Sunday, the French voted along the same lines — they chose, in a landslide (66.1% to 33.9%), Emmanuel Macron for president. He crushed Marine Le Pen, who’s the “far-right” candidate. I know we like to point and laugh at France and how infamous they are for rolling over, but the truth is they’re one of just nine nuclear powers on the planet, and are, by all estimates, a top-5 military power on earth.
So who are Macron and Le Pen?
Endorsements
Trump was more on the Le Pen train but he never really endorsed either. Obama endorsed Macron. Macron has said of Trump, he “made possible what had previously been presented as impossible.”
Trump said of Le Pen, after a recent terror attack, she’s the “strongest on borders, and she’s the strongest on what’s been going on in France.”
The differences may seem obvious from this, but they’re not. Frankly, it’s unclear how much Trump was invested in either candidate, or how much he really cares who won.
The fake news media obviously wants you to believe differently. Sad!
Macron is kind of an outsider but also kind of an insider. Sound weird? Read on.
Emmanuel Macron
Macron is young. Just 39. He comes from a family of ALL medical professionals, but became an investment banker. As Old Balls details, he married his high school French teacher, who is 24 years (!!) his senior. They met and I think began banging when he was just 15. (Stud). She left her family for young Emmanuel.
This was the first campaign he’s ever run, so folks call him an outsider. Many call him “anti-establishment,” despite the fact that he served in the previous president (Francois Hollande)’s administration. He worked under Hollande since 2014 and was the Minister of Economy, Industry, and Digital Data (what an all-over-the-place title; classic France). Notably, it is commonly discussed how frequently he and Hollande sparred.
He’s considered Hollande’s protege, and Hollande commented, on Macron’s ‘En Marche!’ campaign, “he needs to be in the team, under my authority.”
Quick Pelas break, as is tradition
Hollande is a staunch representative of the Socialist Party, so the predetermined judgments on Macron — who served under Hollande — are there. He moved more towards the center once sliding out on his own but he’s still more left than right. He’s pro-EU and urged America’s smart people to move to France after Trump was elected.
In a lot of ways, he did what presidential candidates do: vowed to clean up the political scene, get back to good morals, to improve the economy, to represent the anti-establishment crowd, and did it all while claiming to represent “the middle” or “the moderates.”
He’s anti-Trump, but also like Trump in some ways. No formal political experience, never having held an elected office, and carving out his own political niche (created the ‘En Marche!’ political party). It will be very interesting to see how his presidency unfolds.
Marine Le Pen
Marine Le Pen got dusted so I don’t want to spend a ton of time on her, but she represented the conservative French National Front, which many consider the “far-right” party. She wanted to implement significantly tougher policy on immigrants, propose a referendum for France leaving the EU, and form an alliance with Russia. She’s mostly anti-NATO, and wanted to remove France from NATO and U.S. influence.
She wanted a lot of other shit too, but she lost. So she won’t get as much written about her. Tough.
Takeaways
No need to occupy the entire day talking French politics here (lol, occupy + France). I just wanted you to know there’s a new sheriff in Paris. He’s young, an outsider with some insider experience, married his high school French teacher who he was banging when he was 15, and his victory serves as another note in a strong message from Europe that the Brexit/Trump trend is not global. That it’s not universal.
A little sad to be honest; I would’ve loved a nice Paris boondoggle for some fresh BNN coverage on another stunning European political upset.