Far-right leader Marine Le Pen and liberal Emmanuel Macron will face each other in a runoff after securing the most votes in the first-round of the French presidential election on Saturday.
The results set up a duel between a young candidate with no electoral experience and the woman who has worked to repair the image of a party marred by racism and anti-Semitism. It is also the first time in modern French history that no major-party candidate has advanced, the Associated Press notes.
Another top contender, conservative Francois Fillon pulled out of the race as the results started coming in. He called on supporters to rally behind Macron. “There is no other choice but to vote against the far-right,” he said. Both he and far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon are hovering just below the 20 percent line, according to the latest ballot counts, and would not qualify for the next round.
Because no single candidate got more than 50 percent of the vote, a second run-off election between the top two candidates will occur on May 7.
Polling before Sunday’s election suggested Macron, who is seen as a centrist in many circles and is pro-European Union; and Le Pen, who would likely push for a “Frexit,” were the top two candidates. Macron seems to have the advantage in the second round.
Following last summer’s referendum in the United Kingdom in favor of a “Brexit” from the European Union, Sunday’s election in France was widely viewed as another gauge on the rise of populism in Europe.
President Trump has neglected to make a formal endorsement, but he did compliment Le Pen in a recent interview. He said Le Pen is “strongest on borders, and she’s the strongest on what’s been going on in France.”
His only comment about the election on Sunday was in a tweet. “Very interesting election currently taking place in France,” Trump tweeted.
Former President Barack Obama spoke on the phone with Macron last week. While he did not endorse Macron, spokesman Kevin Lewis said the two did talk about the campaign.
In the statement, Lewis said Obama “remains deeply committed” to France as a close ally of the U.S., and “as a leader on behalf of liberal values in Europe and around the world.”
Barack Obama’s former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes has warned that a win for Le Pen would be “devastating” to U.S. interests.
