Jordan Bardella, the popular leader of France's conservative National Rally party, told Newsmax on Thursday that President Donald Trump's victory signaled to Western democracies that it's OK to focus on national interests and patriotism.
"We are reconciling the people with politics and placing them back at the center of major political decisions," Bardella told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren" a day before he is scheduled to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.
"People don't want to disappear, and we cannot stop a people with renewed hope," he said through an interpreter. "What is true is that nowadays, Trump is showing us that this can be done.
"He is defending his country's interests and demonstrating that in politics, it's not just about talking. You can actually take action, and this is a really exciting, positive message for the entire Western world."
Bardella's party, formerly known as National Front, shocked Europe last year by winning 31.4% of the vote and 30 seats in European parliamentary elections. The victory prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve his nation's National Assembly and declare a snap election reportedly to assess the strength of the French right wing.
The National Rally reportedly won 34% of the vote in the first round of voting. Bardella, 28 at the time, was poised to become the youngest prime minister in France's history had his party won an absolute majority, or 289 seats in the 577-seat asembly, in the second round, which did not happen.
Bardella's party holds the most seats in the National Assembly at 124, but Macron has built a left-center coalition that controls the most powerful of the nation's two legislative chambers.
"We see a wind of freedom and patriotism blowing on all Western democracies because all Western democracies' — despite some specificities and some differences which speak to how diverse Western nations are — citizens and peoples don't want to disappear," said Bardella, who also is a member of the European Parliament.
"They want to protect their identity, their values, their freedom of speech. They don't want to see their industries disappear, and they want to remain proud, upstanding people.
"And we are expressing this desire in France. But we see this in many European countries, including Italy, with [Prime Minister] Giorgia Meloni and [Deputy Prime Minister] Matteo Salvini. We saw it more recently in Austria. And it's also clear with the polling in Germany. We saw that in Hungary with Viktor Orban.
"So it's safe to say, in my opinion, that we are reconciling the people with politics and placing them back at the center of major political decisions."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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