PARIS (AP) – Donald Trump’s election in the U.S. has given a fresh boost to conservative leaders in what may be the next major populist battleground, France, where far-right leader Marine Le Pen is convinced that her anti-immigration, anti-Islam views can lead her to the presidency in five months.
Former president Nicolas Sarkozy, running to get his job back, said in a rally in Nice on Tuesday night that Trump’s election shows that politicians must listen to “the wrath of the people”.
Polls show Sarkozy faces two major contenders – former prime ministers Alain Juppe and Francois Fillon – in his party’s two-round primary that starts Sunday.
Le Pen opens her campaign headquarters for next year’s election in an upper-class neighborhood in Paris on Wednesday.