TWO TIME’S THE CHARM

Emmanuel Macron Easily Beats Marine Le Pen in French Election Rematch

But voters stayed home in droves as Macron faced a surge in inflation concerns and anti-immigrant sentiments.

French President Emmanuel Macron handily won re-election on Saturday after he beat the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in a run-off. Macron was projected to win the election with 58 percent of the vote to Le Pen’s roughly 42 percent, according to The Wall Street Journal, making him the first French president to win a second term in 20 years even as turnout was remarkably low. The road to his second turn in office was much more turbulent than in 2017, as Macron faced a nationalist-fueled backlash over inflation and immigration. Despite that, Le Pen’s history of extreme positions and close ties to Russia tanked her chances of scoring victory in her rematch with Macron. Other candidates who lost in the first round had urged their supporters to back Macron, warning Le Pen’s policies—including removing France from NATO—would turn France backward.