PremiumEmmanuel Macron won 58.55% of the votes in Sunday’s runoff. He is the first French president in 20 years to win reelection, since incumbent Jacques Chirac trounced Le Pen’s father in 2002
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France's President Emmanuel Macron said a simple "Thank you!" after winning the presedential election for the second term. He also thanked people who voted for him and took a jibe at Marine Le Pen, far-right rival. "I'm not the candidate of one camp anymore, but the president of all of us," Macron said.
He arrived on the plaza where his supporters gathered, beneath the Eiffel Tower, to the sound of the “Ode to Joy," the European Union's anthem, hand in hand with his wife, Brigitte.
"Many in this country voted for me not because they support my ideas but to keep out those of the far-right. I want to thank them and know I owe them a debt in the years to come," he said.
Macron won 58.55% of the votes in Sunday’s runoff compared with 41.45% for Le Pen, according to the French Interior Ministry website. He comfortably won a second term Sunday, triggering relief among allies that the nuclear-armed power won't abruptly shift course in the midst of the war in Ukraine from European Union and NATO efforts to punish and contain Russia's military expansionism.
Macron won with 58.5% of the vote to Le Pen's 41.5% — significantly closer than when they first faced off in 2017. He is the first French president in 20 years to win reelection, since incumbent Jacques Chirac trounced Le Pen’s father in 2002.
Le Pen called her result “a shining victory," saying that “in this defeat, I can't help but feel a form of hope."
