What French election results could mean for U.S. Republicans and Democrats

Are the results of the French presidential election a good omen for Democrats? White House chief of staff Ron Klein seems to think so.

Moderate President Emmanuel Macron won reelection on Sunday over far-right National Rally opponent Marine Le Pen, and “at a time when his approval rating is 36%. Hmmm....” Klain tweeted. “An interesting observation, just FYI.”

If the unpopular Macron can become the first French president in 20 years to win reelection in today’s political climate, the implication is that other underperforming incumbents can win when they’re challenged from the far right.

Macron’s first win in 2017 was seen as a victory for centrists following 2016’s Brexit and former President Donald Trump’s election. This time around, The Economist argued Macron’s fate mattered beyond France because support for the center has eroded, and Macron’s path could prove to be a cautionary tale.

President Joe Biden’s approval rating is stuck in the low 40s, according to Gallup polling, and a Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll released Friday found just 34% of Utah voters approve of the job Biden is doing. But Biden is trying to make the case that today’s Republican Party has veered far to the right.

During a visit to Seattle last week, Biden referenced House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who said he would recommend then-President Donald Trump resign following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to newly released audio. McCarthy since changed course, and Biden said today’s GOP has changed.

“This ain’t your father’s Republican Party,” he said. “This is a MAGA Party now.”

Biden said Republicans “who know better are afraid to act correctly because they know they’ll be primaried.”

“These guys are a different breed of cat,” he said. “They’re not like what I served with for so many years.”

While Democrats might take hope from the results out of France, Republicans are hoping for a repeat of Virginia. Last year, Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin won the commonwealth Biden won the year before, in part by keeping Trump at a distance and appealing to moderates.

Youngkin is betting his playbook can flip other Democratic seats and recently launched a pair of political groups to help Republican gubernatorial and House candidates.

“Looking to 2022, Gov. Youngkin will continue to grow that movement and help other candidates win, especially those that will turn blue states red, just as he did in Virginia last year,” senior adviser Kristin Davison said in a statement to Politico.