Paris CNN —French soccer superstar Kylian Mbappé made a dramatic foray into the country’s election campaign this week, but don’t expect the striker to have an influence on the outcome. The far-right National Rally party of anti-immigration leader Marine Le Pen is leading in the polls, and most pundits suspect her populist movement has never come this close to power. Leaders of the French far-right National Rally, Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, attend a rally ahead of the European Parliament elections where the party had huge success earlier this month. In 2006, Marine Le Pen’s father, far-right patriarch Jean-Marie Le Pen, suggested there were too many “players of color” on the national side. While millions will cheer them on at the Euros, they serve as a visible reminder of the country’s changing demographics — an issue which animates voters for the National Rally like no other.

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