Great News: Trump Just All but Endorsed a Fascist!

Look, I’m not saying no one could have seen this one coming, but still.

In a just-published interview with the Associated Press, Donald Trump all but endorsed Marine Le Pen, the ultra-nationalist, Nazi-coddling leader of France’s far-right National Front party in the upcoming French elections.

Trump said Le Pen was the “strongest on borders, and she’s the strongest on what’s been going on in France,” though he held off from calling his comments an official endorsement. But, for a man whose entire career has been spent blowing dog whistles through megaphones, it’s hard to misinterpret his obvious affection for the face of 21st century French fascism (and yes, French courts have ruled that it’s okay to call her a fascist).

Earlier on Friday, Trump also tweeted that the recent murder of a French police officer was an act of “terrorism” that would “have a big effect” on the country’s election.

Speaking with the AP, Trump clarified that he thought the attack would “probably help” Le Pen, specifically.

Le Pen, the daughter of National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen (a notorious Holocaust denier convicted multiple times for inciting racism) recently stated that she did not believe France was responsible for Holocaust-era atrocities committed under the Vichy regime, and has been vocal about closing France’s borders to all immigrants, claiming that French “civilization” was at risk.

No wonder Trump is a fan.