'There is a trend here': Experts celebrate as French left wing appears to beat far right
France's left-wing New Popular Front is expected to finish ahead of the nation's far-right party in French parliamentary elections, and it's causing some excitement in the United States.
CNN reported Sunday that left-wing group "was projected to win between 172 and 192 seats in the National Assembly, making it the largest party, but falling short of the 289 seats required to form an absolute majority." This would mean a finish even in front of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance. Marine Le Pen’s far-right party was reportedly leading in initial estimates, so the change was a surprise to some onlookers.
But not such a shock to historian and authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat.
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"Folks, there is a trend here," she said Sunday. "An anti-authoritarian wave is building; these are the cycles of history."
She then recommended looking at the "long view" by examining "how these cycles have unfolded in the past."
Researcher Anat Shenker-Osorio said, "The French left just demonstrated precisely how to confront fascism: on offense. Le Pen tried to distance herself from...her own platform - sound familiar? - and the left gave her zero room."
She continued, saying, "They nimbly made an argument across a *very* fractured far left versus center to block the right."
"Making the personalized perils of fascist rule absolutely clear to even the most disaffected voters," she then added. "Using humor & history, they made the best of the very short campaign sprint."
Edward Luce, associate editor of Financial Times, noted that "France is giving a display of the benefits of 2-round voting."
"Gives anti fascists time to regroup, and organize tactical voting," Luce added. "Very impressive."
Even actor Billy Baldwin chimed in on the French projections on Sunday, saying, "The left crushed the right in the UK. The left crushed the right in France. We will do the same in November."