The French are no strangers to protests that go sideways. After all, the nation is on its fifth republic since 1792.
Nevertheless, the rally on Saturday planned by the General Confederation of Labor and various other leftist outfits — a rally that quickly devolved into an orgy of destruction — proved to be too much for the French authorities to handle.
'There’s a lot of tinder for the flame.'
Luke Foster, assistant professor of government at Hillsdale College, provided Blaze News with insights into what has changed and what France is up against.
Throughout the West but perhaps most acutely in France, the old left that was historically focused on issues affecting the working class has increasingly been displaced by the “new left, which is much more about sexual and racial politics," said Foster.
This shift appears to have taken place midway through the 20th century.
In “Explaining Postmodernism,” Stephen Hicks, formerly of Rockford University, observed that in response to the “crisis of socialism,” “much of the Left changed its official ethical standard from need to equality” and began “concentrating their efforts on the special issues of women and of racial and ethnic minorities.”
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This is certainly the case in France, where instead of relying on and weaponizing the resentment of French workers, the new left is increasingly leaning on easily mobilizable immigrants and the children of immigrants to help “channel revolutionary pressure,” said Foster.
This comports with what French conservative activist Thaïs d'Escufon has observed in her homeland.
D'Escufon previously told Blaze News:
What started as student protests, mainly led by the far left, has turned into ethnic riots that are spiraling out of control. Immigrants have become the street-level enforcers of the far left, spreading chaos, looting, vandalizing, stealing, and setting things on fire. It is an unholy alliance.
French leftists of all sorts were out in force over the weekend. For example, the suspect arrested in connection with the torching of the historic town hall in Limoges has been identified as a member of the ultra-left.
Foster noted, however, that the riots were undeniably “immigrant-dependent,” using at least the language and the symbols of Islamist politics and flying in some cases the Palestinian flag as well as the colors of North African countries, including Algeria and Morocco.
This foreign presence was no coincidence. Leftist organizers clearly intended to weaponize migrant resentment from the outset.
Saturday was the 65th anniversary of the 1961 Paris massacre, where French police lethally cracked down on Algerian demonstrators. A website promoting French protests on Saturday explicitly referenced the incident, claiming that the “racism” that supposedly animated the violence against “peaceful Algerians” in 1961 is “still used to divide” today.
The choice to hold the protests Saturday plays “to Algerian grievance politics, which are very powerful in France,” said Foster.
“Something like particular local grievances about the way the schools are being run can very quickly turn into an ethnically and religiously motivated attack on the state and the country as a whole,” added Foster.
The professor noted that “ground zero” for the so-called student protests that culminated in the riots on Saturday was unsurprisingly Saint-Denis, a poor and violent area that has a large “North and West African immigrant presence.”
Saint-Denis — where an estimated one in three residents was an immigrant as of 2024 — also happens to be the political proving ground for the France Unbowed movement, or LFI, and the immigration-centered “new France” envisioned by LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Mélenchon and other leftists "are pouring oxygen on the fire and giving it a kind of rhetorical ideological framework,” said Foster.
Foster noted that Mélenchon and the LFI are explicitly committed to an electoral strategy of uniting students and other young people to Islamist politics in order to “unravel the current regime and political system and build something new.”
Mélenchon, a presidential candidate for the 2027 election, is a poster boy for the new left. He has long downplayed Islam as a national security threat, advocated for the “creolization” of France, rejected the integration of migrants, and called for the decriminalization of illegal immigration as well as for a capitalism-destroying revolution.
Mélenchon urged his followers earlier this month to join the so-called protests and subsequently joined labor groups in condemning police for doing their jobs when things went south.
While critical of the looting, Mélenchon stated after the riots Saturday left thousands of businesses gutted and hundreds of police injured, “I support the youth and student movement and their demands.”
Mélenchon did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.
Between Mélenchon’s apparent strategy and the character of the rioters, it appears that both President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron were right.
While Trump, who claimed that “what's happening in France is nothing less than out-of-control mass migration," has advocated for France to close its borders and take control "before it is too late," Macron blamed the riots on "seditionists from far-left fringe groups,” and his administration imposed nightly curfews.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu credited the curfews with achieving a semblance of calm in recent days.
"Tonight, new curfews will be decided where the situation requires it," said Lecornu early on Tuesday.
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President Donald Trump is usually making fun of his opponents, but during a midterm campaign rally on Wednesday, he took aim at Montana Republicans.
"Leave me alone," Trump said to the crowd at Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell, Montana.
'The 21st-century battlefield is being redefined by new weapons.'
Trump poked fun at Montana politicians to stop bothering him over plans for a new weapons testing facility in the state, which was dubbed a "super range" to test high-tech weaponry for the United States military.
"I'm pleased to inform you and announce that right here in Montana, the Department of War is going to establish a new super range for testing advanced weapons and technologies," Trump told supporters.
The president said the range would test autonomous weapons, space weapons, and other forms of "electronic warfare technology," including "supersonics and hypersonics."
The announcement comes after the government finally confirmed in September that it had weapons in space, with Air Force Secretary Troy Meink saying that America has "on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action."
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Trump made remarks in Montana about his fellow GOP members bothering him about wanting the range in their state.
"You're getting it, everybody, will you please leave me alone?" Trump joked. "Leave me alone, Tim. Tim Sheehy would drive me crazy."
At the same time, the president said that maybe the rest of the country "won't be thrilled" because of how many other people wanted to house the range in their jurisdiction.
According to TWZ 10, Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mt.) said on Thursday that he has been a strong advocate for getting the range built in Montana and "securing $10 million for a feasibility study" through the National Defense Authorization Act that passed earlier this year.
"The 21st-century battlefield is being redefined by new weapons and evolving technical frontiers that require a novel approach to how America will resource its warfighting capabilities," Sheehy said in a statement.
Sheehy went on to say that the advanced weaponry now available to the United States — electronic, hypersonic, and space — has a "new class of testing" and evaluation requirements that necessitate the development of such infrastructure.
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Although the senator said that the United States risks falling behind its adversaries, it is unclear exactly what capabilities the U.S. military currently possesses.
Until recently, much of the advancements in military technology promoted by the armed forces have been for on-the-ground use, like Palmer Luckey's x-ray vision helmets and offline AI chatbots to assist soldiers in their missions.
"By combining our state's vast landscapes, innovative spirit, and proud tradition of military service, we are the Last Best Place to ensure America's fighting men and women have the technological edge they need to dominate the battlefield and win the wars of tomorrow," Sheehy added.
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A 24-year-old Kansas man is in federal custody after allegedly threatening on Facebook to kill President Donald Trump.
Jaden J. Read was arrested after the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Kansas charged him with making threats against the president, according to a Monday Justice Department press release.
'Let's shoot Trump honestly, where's our shooter?'
Read allegedly claimed to know exactly where President Donald Trump would speak during his visit to the Wichita area on Monday.
"IK where your speech will be. Already mapped out roofs around. Finna get kirked since yall couldn't help him," Read allegedly wrote.
"Kirked" is a reference to the assassination of Charlie Kirk and has become popular among left-wingers wishing death on conservatives.
A Crime Stoppers tip made on Thursday pointed authorities to Read's comments under a KAKE News Facebook post about the president's upcoming trip, according to the DOJ.
"Let's shoot Trump honestly, where's our shooter? I'm tired of living this money life," the one comment allegedly read.
"I just got a 308 and 305 round and I'm killing this pedo," Read also allegedly posted.
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Under a separate post from KWCH 12 News, Read allegedly wrote, "Can we shoot him in Kansas please I will myself."
The rooftop comment came about a minute later, according to prosecutors.
It follows the July 2024 attempt on Trump's life. Thomas Crooks shot and wounded the then-candidate from a rooftop in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Charlie Kirk was shot from a rooftop at Utah Valley University in September 2025.
The complaint was filed Saturday, and Read was arrested in Clearwater the same day. He will remain in custody until a detention hearing, according to the DOJ. No hearing date has been made public.
If found guilty, Read faces up to five years in prison under the federal law barring threats against the president.
The Secret Service, U.S. Marshals Service, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kansas Highway Patrol, and Wichita Police Department were all involved in the investigation, according to the release.
Trump went ahead with his Monday event at Heartland Credit Union Arena in Park City, just north of Wichita.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Kriegshauser issued a stern statement for would-be assassins and those threatening the president online or offline.
"Political violence and threats of political violence will not be tolerated," he said in the release.
"The First Amendment allows for robust disagreement, but there are constraints," Kriegshauser said, cautioning people "to stay within the bounds of constitutionally protected speech."
The Secret Service, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kansas Highway Patrol, U.S. Attorney's Office, and Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The attorney listed for Read did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is crying political persecution after federal agents reportedly searched her Washington, D.C., home — accusing the Trump administration of weaponizing federal law enforcement against its political opponents.
“I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced,” Omar said in a post on X.
“She will not be silenced,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere mocks.
“No, she will not be when it matters,” co-host Dave Landau says, joking, “We all leared something new.”
“The most likely scenario multiple people claimed is that immigration cops are looking into a long-floated rumor that Omar is actually one year older than she has long claimed to be. A tiny detail that may put her citizenship in jeopardy,” Stu explains, reading from a New York Post article.
“The issue here is that if she came as a child, she would be automatically a citizen because she came at least as far as this particular part of the law goes. If she’s 18, she would have a different set of restrictions and actually could be deported, which of course is definitely what Donald Trump wants to do,” Stu explains.
“Now he’s not necessarily saying that he had anything to do with this. In fact, he’s saying he didn’t,” he adds, playing a clip of Trump commenting on the situation.
“Well, I understand they’re looking at her very carefully, I’ve always found her to be totally crooked personally, but that has nothing to do with me. I think she’s a terrible person, just a complainer. She comes from a country that is a non-country. And then she comes over here and she complains about our Constitution,” Trump said.
“I think she’s a terrible person but that’s really up to the DOJ,” he added.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani does not share Trump’s sentiment.
“This morning, the federal government turned the full force of the Department of Homeland Security against a sitting member of Congress for the offense of disagreeing with the White House. The path to citizenship should not be weaponized against anyone, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, a naturalized American who swore an oath to this country — the same one that I took,” Mamdani wrote in a post on X.
“The promise of citizenship should not be contingent on someone agreeing with the federal government,” he added.
“Another thing that shouldn’t happen is the New York City mayor commenting on an issue, a local Minnesota issue about a congresswoman who’s from Minnesota,” Su says.
“It’s got nothing, literally, nothing to do with Mayor Mamdani other than the fact that they share socialism as their religion and a false god,” he adds.
To enjoy more of Stu and Dave's lethal blend of wit, humor, and insightful commentary subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
SHELBY TOWNSHIP, MICH. — Former Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino may be retired, but he remains laser-focused on the mass deportation of illegal immigrants.
At the Deportation Celebration on Saturday night in Macomb County, Michigan, a political bellwether, Bovino characterized illegal immigration as "the greatest threat" that America has ever faced.
'If we can get this 100 million out, I want to be back in on it.'
"When somebody crosses the border illegally, they're not crossing it just to stay right there at the border," he explained to James Dickson of Michigan Enjoyer. "They're coming in ... to do something wrong: smuggle drugs, human trafficking. Some try to find work. Some use our social services."
Bovino assured the crowd that President Donald Trump is the "best" president he has ever worked for and that transitioning from President Joe Biden to Trump in January 2025 was like flipping a "light switch" on border enforcement.
However, Bovino indicated that Trump has gone soft on the issue in recent months, due in part to "poor information" from people who are "not border security professionals." Bovino even claimed that he has been accused of "letting Trump off the hook" regarding mass deportations, though he remains optimistic that Trump may soon make it a major priority again.
"I'm hearing rumblings, folks, that maybe he is starting to wake up a little," Bovino added.
In response to a request for comment on some of Bovino's remarks, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Blaze News:
President Trump stopped the invasion of our country. There has never been a president who has been stronger on border security and immigration enforcement. Thanks to President Trump’s strong immigration enforcement policies, approximately three million illegals have left the United States and zero illegals have been released at the border in 17 months.
Bovino, 56, retired from the Border Patrol after immigration agents fatally shot two agitators in Minnesota back in January. And though he is less than a year away from the mandatory age of retirement at the agency anyway, Bovino suggested he may yet stage a comeback.
"You can get a waiver, even a fossil like me can get a waiver. So I was planning on lobbying the big man hard for a waiver," he claimed, presumably referring to Trump.
Bovino added that he wants to return to the scene so he can help show 100 million illegal aliens the door. "If we can get this 100 million out, I want to be back in on it," he said.
When Dickson pressed him on whether returning is a realistic option, Bovino replied, "Oh, absolutely. ... It just depends on how serious our politicians are going to go on immigration. If you really want to go serious, then it's definitely possible."
In the event a return to federal immigration enforcement does not work out, Bovino confirmed to Blaze News that he may take a different approach and run for political office instead.
"I will run for something if they don’t start mass deportations! That’s the single focus and should be the single focus!" Bovino wrote in a message Monday.
"POTUS or bust," he added in a follow-up message. The "Senate isn’t quick enough for what [the] country needs."
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Polling expert and political strategist Frank Luntz explains why the polls showing a comfortable lead for Democrats are not dependable.
Luntz explained during an appearance on CNN Thursday why many may now be making the same polling mistake he made in 2016 and claimed polling just isn't capturing an accurate picture of the electorate.
'I'm still skeptical. In the end, Republicans are less likely persons to believe the polls.'
"What do you think the polls may be missing? Do you think they're under-sampling the kind of voter that Trump usually brings out, that sort of non-engaged voter that may not respond to a phone call from a pollster?" asked anchor Boris Sanchez.
"We know that they don't respond to phone calls. We know that in the exit polling back in 2016, and I say this publicly because I want people to hear this," Luntz said.
"You know, I teach at West Point. I cannot lie, cheat, or steal. The cadets can't. I can't. I got 2016 wrong. I believed in the exit polls. Trump voters walked away, refused to participate, because they thought that it was against them," he added.
"They thought that the polls were all biased," Luntz said. "And that's what Republicans are being told right now: 'Don't believe the polls. They're not accurate.' Well they may be, we're about to find out."
He went on to say that turnout is the key to the election, and the polling may not be accurately reflecting which group of people actually shows up at the ballot box.
"I'm still skeptical. In the end, Republicans are less likely to participate. They're less likely to believe the polls are happening. I'm most interested in turnout," he continued.
"They're polling how the electorate overall feels and not polling the people [that] are actually going to participate. But in the end, who the hell cares?"
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Despite the warning about the polling, Luntz also said the president's historically low approval rating would affect Republicans' chances to win the midterm elections.
"That's not good at all, and he's as recently as three weeks ago called affordability a hoax. It's not a hoax if you can't afford eggs. It's not a hoax if you can't afford steak," said Luntz.
"I don't know if they understand how people actually feel, that they are anxious, nervous, angry because their lives are tougher today than they used to be," he added.
He warned that if the polls were indeed correct, Democrats would have a big night on November 3.
2026 midterm polling map: Where the polls stand
Every Senate, governor, and House race with public polling on one map, state by state, with the Blaze polling average. From Blaze News.
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France, which is currently on its fifth republic since 1792, is no stranger to revolt. It is, however, increasingly faced with revolts staged by strangers.
For instance, the race riots of June 2023 — which left 2,508 buildings and 12,031 vehicles smoldering, two dead and thousands wounded — started in migrant communities and often featured young men of Arab and African descent.
'This is the future congressional Democrats seek for your country.'
The riots that swept France in May and left hundreds of police officers injured were, according to National Rally party president Jordan Bardella, largely the work of thugs who are "physically in France, but whose spirit and heart is elsewhere."
In the company of domestic radicals, violent strangers waving foreign flags have once again taken over French streets, launched vicious assaults on police, gutted thousands of businesses, and destroyed historic sites such as Limoges' iconic 143-year-old town hall.
French President Emmanuel Macron claimed in a speech on Sunday that the "French people" are to blame for the latest escalation in the rioting. Not all are convinced, however, that the Western European nation's current problems are homegrown.
President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and some European officials have argued instead that France is reaping the consequences of unchecked third-world immigration and failed assimilation.
The riots underway grew out of mid-September "protests" in migrant-heavy suburbs, reportedly over the quality of the nation's public high school education. In the weeks since, the rioters have added to their list of grievances and to their list of victims.
French conservative activist Thaïs d'Escufon told Blaze News that "what started as student protests, mainly led by the far left, has turned into ethnic riots that are spiraling out of control. Immigrants have become the street-level enforcers of the far left, spreading chaos, looting, vandalizing, stealing, and setting things on fire. It is an unholy alliance."
D'Escufon noted further that the French are "no longer able to contain the consequences of 50 years of disastrous immigration policies. I believe that many immigrants and their descendants have not only failed to integrate, but that some seize every opportunity to express their hostility toward France."
There was significant escalation in the violence on Saturday — an escalation that proved too much for police to handle in numerous cities.
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According to the French Ministry of the Interior, around 550,000 people "demonstrated" across France on Saturday, and over 500 police officers, paramedics, and firefighters were injured in the riots.
"On the sidelines of these marches, vandals chose violence," continued the ministry. "Across the entire territory, they targeted public buildings that serve citizens, such as town halls or prefectures, but also numerous businesses: They were attacked, ransacked, looted, and some even set on fire. Nothing justifies these acts!"
Alexandre Bompard, the head of the retail federation FCD, estimated that around 1,500 stores were "looted and ransacked across France."
The mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Gregoire, said that the looting committed on Saturday was "intolerable" but also added that the public should not lose sight of the aspirations of the "very large majority of those who mobilize peacefully."
While 60,000 cops and security personnel were mobilized across France on Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez admitted that they were unable to restore order in "certain cities," reported Reuters.
Nunez submitted his resignation, stating that he was "responsible for everything that is happening."
Macron did not accept Nunez's resignation, though the president's office has tasked the minister with figuring out a way to "put an end to the barricades and lootings," as well as with ensuring "transparency regarding the failures in foresight and intelligence that led to the violence."
Around 1,800 radicals were reportedly arrested on Saturday.
Macron addressed the wanton destruction on Sunday, stating, "Seditionists from far-left fringe groups, joined by many criminals, engaged in unbridled violence in our cities. Shops were looted. Public buildings, stores, and town halls were attacked, and some were destroyed. Several hundred police officers and gendarmes were injured," according to a translation.
The president suggested that the antagonists were domestic, wondering, "How can French people do this to France? Why burn down the town hall in Limoges, the tourist office in Lyon, storm the town hall in Marseille, or attack the prefect’s residence in Bordeaux? How could they come to this?"
President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that the "French people" are not doing this to France.
Earlier this month, the American president concluded that "what's happening in France is nothing less than out of control mass migration."
On Sunday, Trump wrote, "France is burning! The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country. Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!"
"The migrants have taken over France," added Trump.
'They hate everything France represents.'
After radicals set the town hall of Limoges aflame, Vice President JD Vance tweeted, "Western liberals imported the third world into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion. They ignored fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility. They were told it would lead to this and they didn't listen."
"I pray that France, a beautiful country of amazing people, will stop this madness before more of its landmarks burn," continued Vance. "And I hope Americans are paying attention. This is the future congressional Democrats seek for your country."
D'Escufon told Blaze News that Trump "is obviously right. You only have to look at the footage to see who the rioters are."
"Of course, there are a few native French people who have been indoctrinated, who have undergone a sort of reverse assimilation," continued d'Escufon. "But the overwhelming majority fit the same profile. You can hear it in their chants, you can see it when they spare Muslim-owned businesses. And you can see it in their graffiti, like at the Blanche metro station in Paris, where someone spray-painted: 'France is not only white.' We are used to these riots in France, although this time they have taken on a much larger scale, and the entire world is watching."
As for Macron's speech, d'Escufon noted, "The reality is precisely that these rioters are not French, and that is exactly why they behave this way. I believe they are driven by a desire for post-colonial revenge against us."
"They hate everything France represents, including its institutions. That is why they attack the police. That is why they even attack firefighters, whose very purpose is to protect and save lives," added d'Escufon. "Meanwhile, the media have continued to describe these events as student riots."
Neither Macron's office nor the National Rally immediately responded to Blaze News' request for comment.
Some European officials have similarly acknowledged that the riots underway are the consequence, at least in part, of unchecked immigration.
Marine Le Pen, the deputy of the French National Assembly, told the Financial Times that France is "paying the price" for "decades of uncontrolled immigration."
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar wrote, "In the face of this senseless destruction and unjustified violence, perhaps it is now clear to everyone why Hungary advocates the strictest possible approach to migration, and why we will not weaken our border protection or immigration policy under any pressure."
"I am glad that the current EU summit has made it clear that the overwhelming majority of European countries have woken up and want to break with the permissive policies of the past," added Magyar.
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'If you're a middle-class taxpayer in this country ... you spent half your working life paying for fraudsters and scammers, many of whom are refugees, illegal aliens, and foreigners who came to this country to loot and plunder us,' Stephen Miller said.
The possibility that the agreement might deliver relief is just a side note for the media, because their real objective is insinuating that Trump is really serving Putin.
As Slotkin herself said, her plans for 'victory' are focused on dealing out 'retribution' to Republicans. Americans should take her warning very seriously.
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