June 9 was the worst moment of French President 's political career. Or so many thought. His political grouping, Renew Europe, was dealt a devastating result at the polls.
And even worse—Marine Le Pen, his political rival and head of the far-right National Rally, came out the winner. French voters gave Le Pen's party ; Macron's, meanwhile, scraped by with less than 14 percent. The entire affair was a humbling experience for Macron, a guy who hasn't really done anything but win since he was elevated to the French presidency in 2017.
The European Parliament elections, however, were a low-stakes affair compared to the first round of French legislative elections that took place over the weekend. If Macron thought dissolving the French National Assembly immediately after the elections and daring French voters to would scare them straight, it backfired in spectacular fashion. With a single decision, Macron exposed himself as everything his political opponents have claimed he is—arrogant, aloof, and grossly naïve about what ordinary French want.
June 9 is no longer Macron's worst day. That honor now goes to June 30, when it became clear very early on that the French president's centrist candidates would be losing a lot of their vote share in the assembly. As an editorial in the French daily , "It was Macronism, in its essence, that self-dissolved on Sunday.
" Le Pen's National Rally nearly doubled its vote from 18.68 percent in 2022, . A leftist coalition came in second, with a.