When he was first elected French President in 2017, Emmanuel Macron promised that over the next five years he would do everything to ensure people would no longer have “any reason to vote for the extremes.”

Unfortunately for the French electorate, Macron fell short of this promise to stem the rise of the far-right. In the wake of his 2017 victory, the political landscape shifted dramatically, with Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party being the main beneficiary.

During his first term in office, Macron’s administration flirted with the same right-wing themes that have powered Le Pen’s rise — including Islam, security and immigration. Indeed, the entire political landscape in France is not immune to the appeal of policies that have profound effects on anyone who was not born White and on French soil.

Whether or not Macron retains his seat, the effects of the creeping acceptance of the premises fueling Le Pen’s rise will be profound.

The focus on French Muslims, in particular, has been marked by a steady increase in fear-mongering for votes over the past 30 years. As successive waves of terrorist attacks in France galvanized public opinion since the mid-1980s, state authorities have been trying to create a framework to oversee Muslim religious practices and organization, through the idea of creating a “French Islam.”