PARIS, France (Reuters) — Marine Le Pen supporters were divided on Sunday (May 7) after the far-right candidate lost the French presidential election to centrist Emanuel Macron.
While some were soundly disappointed by the defeat, others saw the historic result for the far right party as a reason to celebrate.
The president of the National Front youth division, Gaetan Dussausaye compared the election campaign to David facing Goliath given all the opposition that he said had faced them.
Le Pen had savaged the EU and its Schengen open border policies during her campaign, promising a “France first” approach that echoed the message President Donald Trump used in sweeping to power in the United States.
Some supporters said this might have been her downfall.
“I think that she was very convinced that leaving the euro and Europe was necessary for France,” said one man, Frederic. “But there you go, the French people didn’t think the same thing. And how much, I was actually quite surprised by the score to be honest, I thought that we would be closer to 40 per cent, below 35 per cent, looking at the latest results, that is quite severe.”
Macron, a 39-year-old former economy minister who urged the French to embrace the EU and globalisation, defeated Le Pen by a score of roughly 65 per cent to 35 per cent, early results showed.
Le Pen, 48, said she had congratulated Macron. But she defiantly claimed the mantle of France’s main opposition in calling on “all patriots to join us” in constituting a “new political force”. Her deputy said this new force would not be called “National Front”.