0: There are zero candidates who would beat French far-right leader
Jordan Bardella in a head-to-head presidential runoff, according to a
new poll. Bardella, heir to
Marine Le Pen as head of the National Rally party, would win more than a third of the vote in the first round. Caveat: it’s early – the election won’t be held until 2027. What’s more, the second round could be very close, depending on Bardella’s opponent.
For more on the “unraveling” of France, read Ian Bremmer’s recent piece here.
9: US President Donald Trump’s approval among Latino adults has fallen nine points since the start of his presidency to just 27%, according to Pew. In 2024, Trump won nearly half the Latino vote, a record for a GOP candidate. Among Latinos who chose Trump in 2024, his approval is still a robust 81%, but even that is down from a high of 93% when he took office. Trump’s handling of immigration and the economy underline the growing disapproval.
39: Will island politics be a slam-dunk for former Los Angeles Lakers star Rick Fox? The three-time champion, who retired from the NBA in 2004, is taking a jumpshot at public service in the Bahamas, announcing that he’ll run for one of the island nation’s 39 constituencies in the next election. Fox holds Bahamian citizenship through his father.
2: Well, Adolf Hitler is back. The Namibian lawmaker who has that unfortunate name is set to win his second election in a row, representing the constituency of Ompundja in a landslide. Namibia is a former German colony. Hitler, 59, says his father “probably didn’t understand” the meaning of the name, and that it’s “too late” to change it now.
