Matt and Sam talk to KYE Paris correspondent Cole Stangler (@colestangler) about the French presidential election. Did this week's one-on-one debate between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen change the race in any significant ways? Why is Le Pen drawing notably more support this time around than she did in 2017? How much is Macron's strategy of pivoting to the right on issues of culture and identity to blame for her rise? What about Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leftwing politician who nearly made it to the runoff? And why did the far-right candidate Éric Zemmour fade? Listen for the answers to these questions—and more!
Further Reading:
Cole Stangler, "'He Just Shat All over Us': Why Macron’s “Republican Front” Is Fraying," The Nation, April 15, 2022
Cole Stangler, "A Mélenchon vs. Macron Runoff Would Be Good for France," Foreign Policy, April 4, 2022
Cole Stangler, "France's War on Terror," Commonweal, December 16, 2020
Harrison Stetler, "Catholics for Zemmour," Commonweal, April 1, 2022
Arthur Goldhammer, "Macron Nails Le Pen on Putin," New Republic, April 21, 2022
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