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10.11.2016
DW.de

After Brexit and the victory of Republican Donald Trump, many in France wonder if the next stunning upset could be in their country. The presidential vote is just five months away and the far-right is polling strongly. 

Marine Le Pen, head of France's far-right National Front party, has been tweeting up a storm, morphing effortlessly from congratulating US President-elect Donald Trump even before US election results were announced to skewering her rivals at home. 

"We can make possible that which was impossible; what the people want, the people can do," was one of the far-right leader's latest warnings to a French political mainstream that may be the next target of voter ire.

After the Brexit referendum for Britain to leave the European Union and the US elections, many wonder if the next stunning upset could be in France, where the presidential vote is just five months away and Le Pen has been polling strongly for months. 

She is not the only one who may potentially gain ground. Politicians from far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon to center-right former-President Nicolas Sarkozy are all trying to tailor their political message to the outcome of the American campaign. 

"It's interesting to see how politicians here are turning Donald Trump's victory into arguments that go in their direction," said analyst Bruno Cautres, of Science Po's Centre for Political Research, in Paris. 

Lessons for France?  

The political angling comes after Trump's win blindsided many European leaders, who have warily congratulated the Republican while placing conditions on how they intend to work with him.