By ,
Published June 30, 2016
The Democratic Party may be divided, but Hillary Clinton has the president of France on her side.
French leader Francois Hollande, in a newspaper interview on Thursday, urged American voters to back Clinton and warned that electing Republican Donald Trump would be “dangerous” and “complicate relations between Europe and the U.S.”
"The best thing the Democrats can do is to get Hillary Clinton elected," Hollande told the French financial daily Les Echos, according to a translation by Politico.
The French socialist's support isn't necessarily the kind of endorsement Trump is angling for -- and he's hardly the first world leader to level criticism at the billionaire businessman.
According to a translation by AFP, Hollande went so far as to draw a comparison to the unexpected result in last week’s Brexit decision.
“Those who say that Donald Trump could not possibly become the next president of the United States are the same ones who thought that Brexit would never be voted in," he said.
Hollande also criticized Trump for his use of “slogans” that appeal to “the extreme right in Europe and in France.”
Hollande has not announced whether he intends to seek re-election, but is currently trailing behind right-wing National Front leader Marine Le Pen in recent polls.
The overseas endorsement likely will have little impact on American voters and may be directed to his domestic audience.
While Hollande did break with standard diplomatic practice by weighing in on the U.S. election, it would be not be first time a French president backed a Democratic candidate.
In 2008, then-President Nicolas Sarkozy effusively embraced Barack Obama, wished him “good luck” and said, "If he is chosen, then France will be delighted. And if it's somebody else, then France will be the friend of the United States of America."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/french-president-hollande-backs-clinton-rips-trump