REPUBLICAN-LED HOUSE VOTED TO HOLD GARLAND IN CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS. >>> EXACTLY THREE WEEKS AGO FRENCH PRESIDENT MACRON CALLED FOR A SURPRISE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION IN FRANCE. A RESPONSE TO THE SUCCESS OF RIGHT-WING CANDIDATES IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTION. MACRON HOPED FRENCH VOTERS WOULD REJECT THE FAR RIGHT AND SO FAR THAT HOPE BACKFIRED. THE FIRST ROUND OF ELECTIONS OVER THE WEEKEND. THE FAR RIGHT NATIONAL RALLY PARTY EARNED THE HIGHEST TALLY OF VOTES OF COALITION OF LEFT WING GROUPS CAME IN SECOND. MACRON SECOND ALLIANCE FINISHED THIRD. MORE VOTING TO COME. A SECOND ROUND TAKES PLACE SUNDAY. THE VAST NUMBER OF SEATS ARE STILL UP FOR GRABS AND HE IS CALLING ON VOTERS ACROSS THE SPECTRUM TO PREVENT A FAR RIGHT MAJORITY IN THE SECOND ROUND. LET'S BRING IN MAX BURGMAN. HE IS AT THE CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES. MAX, THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US. WHAT DO WE MEAN IN THIS CASE, WHEN WE ARE JUST TALKING ABOUT FRANCE, WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN WE ARE SAYING FAR RIGHT? >> THE FAR RIGHT NATIONAL RALLY PARTY LED BY LA PEN IT IS SIMILAR IN SOME WAYS TO THE MODERN U.S. REPUBLICAN PARTY IN THE SENSE THAT SHE IS RUNNING ON ANTIIMMIGRATION PLATFORM VERY MUCH ADHERES TO MANY OF THE THINGS THAT YOU HEAR FROM TRUMP, IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC PROTECTIONISM. REVIVED NATIONALISM. CONCERN ABOUT EUROPE IN THIS SENSE WANTS FRANCE TO BE MORE INDEPENDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. SKEPTICAL OF ALLIES, SPECTACLE OF NATO. AND, IN PROTECTIONIST IN THE SENSE THAT BELIEVING IN HIGHER TARIFFS IN OPPOSING FREE TRADE, IN MANY RESPECTS AND OPPOSING WHAT THE EU HAS DONE. THE RALO WOULD, I THINK, BRING POTENTIAL REAL CHANGE WHAT IS MOST CONCERNING TO MANY PEOPLE IN FRANCE ARE PARTICULARLY THE FRENCH CITIZENS THAT ARE NOT OF WHITE BACKGROUND THAT ARE FROM AFRICA, FROM OTHER REGIONS. THERE IS NO SECRET OF LE PEN'S RALLY AND THE DESTAIN FOR WHAT SHE SEES AS SORT OF IN SOME WAY FAKE FRENCH CITIZENS AND WANTS TO GET RID OF BIRTH RIGHT CITIZENSHIP AND OTHER ELEMENTS THAT ARE CRITICAL TO THE FRENCH STATE OR HOW FRANCE HAS PERCEIVED ITSELF HISTORICALLY >> IS IT POSSIBLE TO KNOW WHY LE PEN AND THAT MOVEMENT IS GAINING MOMENTUM? IS IT THAT RACIAL PIECE? ANTIMACRON SENTIMENT? IS IT JUST THE GENERAL POST COVID THAT IS BOUNCING AROUND THE WORLD? IS THERE, DO WE KNOW? >> IT IS A GREAT QUESTION. I THINK IT IS ALL OF THE ABOVE. WHAT YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER WITH MACRON HE BROKE FRENCH POLITICS WHEN HE WON IN 2017. THAT MACRON IS A CANDIDATE THAT CREATED HIS OWN PARTY. TRADITIONALLY FRENCH WAS CENTER LEFT, CENTER RIGHT AND MACRON CREATED A PARTY IN THE CENTER WHEN YOU DO THAT IN DEMOCRATIC POLITICS OPPOSITION HAS TO COME FROM SOMEWHERE. WHERE IT CAME AT LEAST IN THE LAST ELECTIONS IN 2022, WAS FROM THE FAR RIGHT IN LE PEN AND FROM THE FAR LEFT. WHAT WE ARE SEEING IS THAT LE PEN GAINED GROUND THAT HAS SORT OF NORMALIZED HER POSITIONS TO SOME DEGREE, SOFTENED ON SOME AREAS. MOVE TO THE CENTER A LITTLE BIT. REALLY WINNING OVER ACTUALLY MANY FAR LEFT VOTERS. FORMER COMMUNIST THAT WERE PLENTIFUL IN FRANCE. THE CENTER CAN NOT HOLD THAT IS WHAT WE SAW WITH THIS ELECTION. MACRON'S PARTY FINISHED THIRD. NOT A STRONG BASE FOR IT. SO N SOME WAYS WE ARE SEEING REALLY THE REVIVAL OF A TWO- PARTY SYSTEM, THE QUESTION IS, WHERE DOES THE CENTER GO? DOES THE CENTER BACK THE LEFT OR DOES IT BACK THE RIGHT? MACRON IS TRYING TO GET THE CENTER TO BACK THE LEFT IN THE SECOND ROUND OF VOTING. I THINK THAT SHOULD SERVE TO AT LEAST BLUNT THE GAINS OF THE FAR RIGHT >> IN THE LESS THAN MINUTE WE HAVE LEFT, MAX, CAN YOU GIVE US A SENSE OF WHAT WE SHOULD READ IN EUROPE IN TERMS OF THE RISE OF THE RIGHT OR CAUTION US AGAIN OVERREADING THE RISE OF THE RIGHT IN MAKING GRAND CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE CONNECTION FOR EUROPE? >> I WOULD CAUTION TO SOME DEGREE. WHAT WE ARE SEEING IS AN ANTIINCUMBENT TO LEADERS IN POWER FOR A LONG TIME. AND I THINK YOU ARE GOING TO SEE THAT ALSO IN THE U.K. WHEN THEY HAVE ELECTIONS ON JULY 4th. THAT WILL NOT USHER IN A RIGHT WING GOVERNMENT BUT THE CENTER LEFT GOVERNMENT THAT IS LIKELY TO RETURN. BUT THEN YOU TAKE A COUNTRY LIKE GERMANY, THE COALITION IS UNPOPULAR. SO, I THINK IT IS VERY MIXED PICTURE, AND, THE FAR RIGHT IS CLEARLY MAKING GAINS, THE FAR RIGHT IS ALSO SHIFTING AND CHANGING TO ADAPT IN EUROPE TO THE CENTER. MAYBE NOT FULLY. MAYBE A BIT MORE. AND I THINK IT IS THEREFORE HARD TO JUST DRAW A GRAND CONCLUSION BUT FOR THE FACT THAT I THINK PEOPLE ARE ANNOYED POST COVID WITH INCREASE OF COST OF LIVING IN EUROPE FROM
