Far-left presidential candidate Marine Le Pen might not have won the French election on Sunday, but in 2022 she will likely become president, former UKIP leader Nigel Farage told Fox News on Monday.
Far-left candidate Marine Le Pen might not have won the French presidential election on Sunday, but in 2022 she will likely become president, former UKIP leader Nigel Farage told Fox News on Monday.
« She got 35 percent of the votes this time, and in 2022, I believe [Le Pen] will win, » Farage told Shannon Bream on « America’s Newsroom. »
Farage defended his bold prediction by citing voting statistics that showed the older generation supporting France’s president-elect Emmanuel Macron over Le Pen in this election.
« Eighty percent of the over 65’s voted for Macron. So generationally, it’s the older people that are sticking to the older European model and the younger people that are rejecting it, » Farage added.
FRENCH ELECTION: MACRON DEFEATS LE PEN — FRANCE’S NEXT LEADER IS NO HILLARY CLINTON
Macron won the election on Sunday, collecting 66.1 percent of the vote, while Le Pen took away 33.9 percent. Macron received 10 million more votes than Le Pen to become France’s youngest president at the age of 39.
The president-elect ran on a vastly different platform than his opponent, campaigning on pro-business and pro-European Union policies. Farage told Fox News that Macron’s policies will not bring change to the country that’s suffering from sluggish economic growth.
« In the end, what the French are going to see is five more years of failure, five more years of being stuck in the wrong currency, and five more years of increasing terrorist attacks, » Farage said of Macron.
Farage said in order for Le Pen to rise to the top by 2022, she and the Front National would need to shed the old image that caused them to lose votes.
« The Front National needs to get rid of the baggage of the past, of the shadow of her father. When [Le Pen] does that, she’ll be in a stronger position, » Farage said, referencing party founder Jean-Marine, who Le Pen forced out during the last image change.
The party has already begun implementing changes before June’s parliamentary elections. On Sunday, the National Front’s interim president Steeve Briois announced that the party will receive a name change.
« It’s opening the doors of the movement to other personalities, » Briois told The Associated Press, « then give it a new name to start on a new basis. »
A new name would help separate the anti-semitism and racism reputation that was left by Le Pen’s father and original party leaders.
Le Pen, despite her defeat, won a historic amount of votes that has made the National Front a political heavyweight in France.
« It is this great choice … that will be submitted to the French in legislative elections, » Le Pen said during her concession speech. She also credited herself for creating a divide « betweeen patriots and globalists » in the country’s political landscape.
« Those who choose France, defend its independence, its freedom, its prosperity, its security, its identity and its social model, » Le Pen said.
IN A DIVIDED FRANCE, CHALLENGES AWAIT PRESIDENT-ELECT MACRON
Le Pen pledged to pull France out of the European Union and NATO and to back away from the euro currency if she had became president.
Germany’s foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, in his welcome for Macron, also warned the French that if the president-elect fails to bring on change, « In five years Mrs. Le Pen will be president and the European project will go to the dogs. »
Farage believes that vision of Le Pen in office will come with Macron as France’s president.
« The French may not have gone for Frexit yesterday in the way the Brits did last year in our referendum, but I believe genuinely, sincerely, that it is only a matter of time, » Farage said.
Fox News’ Shannon Bream and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
