French elections

Trump predicts deadly Paris shooting will have ‘big effect’ on key French election

A deadly shootout on Paris’s best-known boulevard darkened the final day of campaigning Friday in France’s pivotal presidential election, as President Trump predicted that the attack would help shape the outcome of voting Sunday.

Trump later told the Associated Press that the attack on French police Thursday night will “probably help” far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who has raised many of the same anti-immigrant and security issues that were pushed by Trump during his campaign. Trump said he is not explicitly endorsing Le Pen but that he believes she is the candidate who is “strongest on borders, and she’s the strongest on what’s been going on in France,” AP reported.

Trump also told the news agency that he is not worried about emboldening terrorists by saying that an attack can have an impact on a democratic election.