A month ago, Marin Lepen was 10 points behind Emmanuel Macron and was fighting for a place in the second round. He is now considered the clear favorite to challenge him for the presidency. If he makes it to the second round on April 24, opinion polls show for the first time that a Le Pen victory is on the verge of error. France’s far-right leader has worked hard over the past five years to win votes, softening her rhetoric and presenting a more moderate, “selective” image. It continues to promise strict immigration restrictions, a “French” policy on housing, jobs and benefits, and a ban on the Muslim headscarf in public places. However, she has abandoned her plan to leave the EU and has focused on her personal life as an unmarried mother who raises kittens. She helped win over some traditional right-wing voters who once saw her as too extreme and her party tainted with the toxic behaviors of his past. Read more – The far-right Lepen closes Macron before the vote
