AP Interview: Le Pen tells AP she ‘changed everything’
PARIS — French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen told The Associated Press on Friday that whether or not she wins Sunday’s runoff vote, “we changed everything.”
In an interview in her Paris headquarters, Le Pen said there could still be a surprise on Sunday despite polls that show she is trailing independent centrist rival Emmanuel Macron by a large margin.
Le Pen has brought her far-right National Front party, once a pariah with racist, anti-Semitic overtones, closer than ever to the French presidency, riding a wave of populism and growing frustration amid working class voters with globalization and immigration.
Even if she loses, she is likely to be a powerful opposition figure in French politics in the coming parliamentary election campaign and beyond.