‘LePen-Trumpism’: Far-right surge in the West

On 9 June, the four-day European Parliament elections came to a close. Exit polls from French public opinion research centres show that the National Rally, a far-right populist political party led by Marine Le Pen, ranked first among French political parties with about 31% of the vote. French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance Party ranked second with only about 14.6%. 

Having suffered a heavy blow, Macron announced on 9 June that he was dissolving the National Assembly and calling for a snap election. Le Pen reportedly told supporters that she welcomes Macron’s decision and that her party is ready to exercise power after the snap elections, put an end to mass migration, make the purchasing power of the French a priority, and revitalise France.  

The National Rally (known as Rassemblement National in French) was founded by Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, on 5 October 1972. For a decade, the party remained on the fringes of French political life until it gained prominence after a breakthrough in the 1984 European Parliament elections. Prior to the election, Jean-Marie Le Pen had published the book Les français d’abord (meaning “France first”).  

Admist public’s discontent with the economic downturn and high unemployment rate in France at the time, Jean-Marie Le Pen fervently promoted national chauvinism, exclusionism and racism in his book. He argued that France was under siege by foreigners, whom he blamed for unemployment and crime, contributing to cultural erosion. While opposing the left-wing government, he also criticised the right-wing, which was seen as representing the upper bourgeoisie.

In his book, Jean-Marie Le Pen outlined his party manifesto, which included calling for constitutional amendments, advocating proportional representation and economic privatisation, restricting the right to strike, reinstating the death penalty, and strengthening social order and civil defence.

He also expounded on the political stances of anti-immigration, anti-globalisation, anti-European integration, anti-government, and anti-mainstream political parties, as well as proposed the slogans of “French first”, “France first” and “the voice of the people”. 

A few years after the book was published, the National Rally attracted a large number of unemployed youths, small and medium-sized business owners and the self-employed. Its members grew from 500 to 25,000. 

The book can be considered as the National Rally’s party manifesto. Over the decades, while the party has been plagued by internal strifes, its core principles — anti-immigration, anti-globalisation, anti-EU, anti-government, and anti-mainstream political positions — have remained unchanged. It strongly rejects immigrants, especially those from Africa, and advocates “ethnic purity”. It opposes the EU and free trade, advocating tariff barriers to protect domestic economic development and employment. It is also anti-abortion and anti-homosexuality.

More importantly, the book’s influence reaches far beyond France, and even Europe. In recent years, Trumpism has emerged as a formidable force in the US. It champions “America First”, prioritising US interests and opposing globalisation. It also rejects free trade, advocating for tariff barriers to protect domestic economic development and employment.

It is also anti-immigration and anti-establishment, positioning itself as “the voice of the people”. Its policy advocates are a carbon copy of those in Jean-Marie Le Pen’s book. I call this ideological trend “LePen-Trumpism”. 

As a political trend riding on the “politically incorrect” discourse to gain prominence, LePen-Trumpism managed to survive, stabilise and expand its influence in European and American politics for a slew of complex reasons. It is related to both the political and cultural traditions of Europe and the US, as well as their current positions in globalisation and trade integration. 

Firstly, European countries and the US have a historical tradition of nationalism, racism and exclusionism, with the latter two plaguing the US to this day. This provided the ideological basis for the emergence and development of extreme right-wing ideologies in Europe and the US. 

Secondly, as a result of globalisation and the deepening of trade integration, increasingly more industries have shifted from Europe and the US to Asia, including China. When the economy was expanding, some problems were obscured by prosperity. But when the global financial crisis hit in 2008, these problems began to surface collectively. 

In an interview on 2 April 2014, then French Prime Minister Manuel Valls attributed France’s problems to globalisation. He stated, “The global financial crisis as well as the globalisation of the economy has been detrimental to France. It caused tens of thousands of French people to lose their jobs.”

He added, “The people of France are also well aware that the economic globalisation has negatively impacted the development of France’s economy, such as factories and businesses moving to low labour areas. When these factories shut down, a large number of the public lose their jobs.” 

Since 2016, Donald Trump has repeatedly emphasised this point, proposing trade protectionism, such as rejecting international trade agreements, in a bid to gain the support of small and medium-sized enterprises as well as their employees and families who have been impacted by economic globalisation.

Trump also pushed for banning foreign businesses with an advantageous tax system from entering the US, supporting US companies against “unfair global competition”, and banning foreign investment in strategic or key US industries. Nationalism and economic nationalism have been revived.         

Thirdly, after the Second World War, immigration has long become the concern of European and American citizens. As most of the immigrants are unskilled labour, their income and social status are extremely low, with most of them concentrated in the slums. Even more concerning is the fact that these immigrants — being unemployed and unmarried, having no children or families and earning a low income — have become an instability factor impacting social security. 

After the 2008 financial crisis, economic development in various countries slowed down while unemployment rose. This was especially pronounced in Latin America and Africa. A large number of immigrants thus flowed into Europe and the US, and the immigrant issue gradually became a concern for society. 

As the number of voters who are concerned with the immigration issue increases, each political party’s attitude and stance towards the issue becomes a key factor affecting their electoral support. 

Against such a backdrop, far-right political forces — including France’s National Rally and the US’s Trump-reformed Republican Party — have begun to use the increasing dissatisfaction among the public to propose strong anti-immigration platforms.

They have constantly highlighted the detrimental impact of immigration on their country’s society. Examples include claiming that foreign immigrants would impinge on their citizens’ social welfare and employment opportunities; that immigrants would worsen social security and cause a rise in crime rates, thus wrecking social stability; and that immigrants would impact culture and tradition, and threaten their country’s national identity. 

Fourthly, political parties in Europe and America have seen an unprecedented “polarisation”; the left is too far left, and the right too far right. Finding a compromise or forming a consensus on policy is a challenge.

Constant fighting among political parties have “hijacked” a country’s long-term interests, and the minority of political representatives who are “uncompromising” have wilfully gone against the wishes of the majority of the public. Governments also have a hard time introducing and implementing “good policies”. 

The war of words among each country’s congress has surged, but the number of proposals have declined. Hence, as a unique and independent thought, LePen-Trumpism has targeted the establishment and the current political structure. They feel that the root cause for Europe’s and the US’s problems is because the country’s elites have betrayed the interests of the people — thus they have branded themselves as “the voice of the people”.   

In sum, after the Second World War, a series of challenges have gripped European countries and the US. After the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008, immigrants from undeveloped countries came in waves, worsening deep-rooted issues such as the clash of cultural values. These circumstances created favourable conditions for the rise of far-right populist doctrine such as LePen-Trumpism.

They were bold enough to throw out “politically incorrect” perspectives in traditional political dialogue, go against economic globalisation while advocating for trade protectionism, being anti-immigration, and proposing new racism, populism and nationalism. 

Far-right thoughts such as LePen-Trumpism have become a strong force in the Western world. With a host of unresolved problems, it is likely that this line of thinking will only continue to grow. As for what influence and impact such thought would have on Europe and the US or even the world, we only need to examine the legacy left behind by Trump on the US and the world to have an inkling.

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