French far-right leader issues anti-immigrant platform

LYON, France — Marine Le Pen, the far-right presidential candidate, introduced her platform Saturday at the start of a weekend conference, envisioning a thriving nation “made in France.”

The British decision to exit the European Union and the election of U.S. President Trump could inspire would-be voters and provide a morale boost for her backers attending the event in the southeast city of Lyon.

Le Pen denounces what she calls the “ultraliberal economic model” — globalization, open borders and “massive immigration,” notably of Muslims.

Unlike Trump, Le Pen is not a new quantity in French politics — she has headed the National Front since 2011 — but they share a belief in what she calls “economic patriotism” and “intelligent protectionism.”

Parisian baker Walter Fraudin, 44, a National Front member, said Trump’s victory might motivate the French to undo a system in which political promises never leave the wish list.

France’s longstanding jobless rate of 10 percent, growing disgust with politics as usual and the disarray of the political establishment, on right and left, have added voter appeal to a party once seen as a pariah for its racist, anti-Semitic profile under the leadership of her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen.