France, may the odds be ever in your favor.
The French Presidential election felt like a bit of déjà vu for Americans. After the first round of voting on April 23rd, France had a far-right nationalist, Marine Le Pen, in one corner and a centrist, Emmanuel Macron, in the other.
But the battle ended Sunday, May 7, 2017 at 8 p.m. local time.
In an election season that rivaled the United States’ 2016 presidential election, France saw a very shady –– read Russian –– cycle.
Le Pen was unmasked as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s favorite when she visited Moscow and Putin received her as if she was already a head of state.
As a result of Putin’s not-so-subtle meddling, Macron and his camp decided to blacklist RT (the Russian international television network). The thought was to preemptively circumvent Russian hacking, but they were wrong.
Late Friday, Macron’s campaign announced they were victims of a cyber attack. Six gigabytes of data were published –– including an obscene amount of alleged campaign emails. Sound familiar?
Macron's camp was able to survive the massive data breach. As the polls closed Sunday evening, Macron vanquished Le Pen in a sweeping victory and has become France's new president. Vive la France!