PARIS, France—Marine Le Pen and her Rassemblement National party fell short of “expectations” in the second round of voting in France’s legislative elections this past weekend. The only problem with that? It was the corporate media and political classes that set those “expectations” in the first instance, hyping the threat of the “far-right” to help cobble together a far-left coalition and scare the French public into voting for it.
Macron’s gambit of calling an early election can not really be said to have paid off. The French President has lost his prime minister and seats in the National Assembly and will now be forced to grovel to socialist, green, and Marxist parties to try to form a coalition government in a hung parliament.
Meanwhile, Le Pen can safely say she has increased her seats in France’s National Assembly by 53, and improved her vote share against the backdrop of some wildly disproportionate results:
Rassemblement National received over 10.6 million votes but only 142 seats;
The far-left alliance got 7 million votes and 180 seats;
Macron’s group got 6.7 million votes and 159 seats.
Le Pen has the largest group of Deputies (Members of Parliament) of any party.
The others are coalitions, not parties. This is another feather in her cap and another cause for panic amongst France’s ruling class.
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