Macron wins reelection as his challenger demonstrates the rise of the French far-right

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• Judy Woodruff:

  France's President Emmanuel Macron has promised to unite his divided country after winning reelection for a second five-year term.

  Macron defeated the extreme right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen by a substantial margin, although nearly 30 percent of the electorate did not vote. But Le Pen still managed to secure almost 42 percent.

  And, as special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports from Paris, Macron needs to address the concerns of huge numbers of disaffected voters.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  "Down With Macron," the banner reads, "The Robin Hood of the Wealthy."

  This demonstration may have been relatively small, comprising young left-wing protesters. But it was an illustration of just how fractured France is in the wake of Macron's victory. The divide stretches across the political spectrum from hard left to extreme right.

  Martin Quencez, Deputy Director, German Marshall Fund of the U.S.: There is a lot of figures that show that Emmanuel Macron does not have a very strong mandate despite his victory yesterday.

  But I would say, though, that we should not miss the big picture. And the big picture is still Emmanuel Macron has managed to win his reelection, something that nobody has done for the past twenty years.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  Martin Quencez, deputy director of the German Marshall Fund think tank, believes Macron's leadership style, derided as haughty and arrogant, will change in this second term.

• Martin Quencez:

  He clearly has a problem as a personal individual. There is an issue with Macron as a president, and he is clearly aware of this, because he wants to show the French people his way of being a leader will be less brutal than it was in the first mandate.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  At his victory rally beneath the Eiffel Tower, Macron addressed those on the left who held him in such disdain that they refused to support him against the extreme right.

• Emmanuel Macron, French President (through translator):

  I also think of all our compatriots who abstained from voting. Their silence signified a refusal to choose, to which we must also respond.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  Macron also acknowledged that he must tackle the concerns of the 42 percent who voted for Le Pen. And that means trying to reduce the cost of living and perhaps getting tougher on immigration.

• Emmanuel Macron (through translator):

  Their anger and disagreements which led them to vote for this project must also find a response, and that will be my responsibility and that of those around me.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  Marine Le Pen regarded her percentage of the vote as a victory. The extreme right has never fared so well. Her concession speech was made through gritted teeth.

• Marine Le Pen, President, National Rally Party (through translator):

  I fear tonight that the five-year mandate that starts will not break the disdainful and brutal practices of the previous leadership, and that Emmanuel Macron will not do anything to repair the fractures that divide our country and make our fellow citizens suffer.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  While much of France was relieved that Le Pen was defeated, bartender Wilfried Sandjo, who migrated from Cameroon, worries that her extremism will fester.

• Wilfried Sandjo, Bartender:

  I almost wish Marine was elected, because, at least that way, it would have been out of the system, because it is still in France.

  Like, there are lot of France out there who still out there who still believe in her ideas. We might as well get it out of our system, so we are free of this (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You know what I mean? So, now everybody, like gay people, like immigrants — I'm an immigrant — we have got to live, like, under our hoods, because she is still out there.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  In Republic Square, there were hopes that, in his second term, Macron, a former banker, can tackle rising prices.

• Corinne Le Grande, Events Manager (through translator):

  I'm concerned. People, by and large, are worried and are suffering. But we hope that Mr. Macron will pay attention.

• Man (through translator):

  I hope he has understood that it is essential he now thinks about others, not just the rich, but he also has to think about the poor.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  There's been relief in most European capitals and in Washington that Emmanuel Macron has been reelected. A Le Pen victory would have meant disruption to NATO and more turbulence for the European Union, much the glee of the Kremlin.

  But Emmanuel Macron does have the ability to be able to talk to Vladimir Putin about Ukraine. Although his diplomacy has not worked yet, there may come a time when that connection pays dividends.

  Following the retirement of Germany's Angela Merkel, Macron's reelection makes him the most senior figure in the European Union. But much will depend on whether he can govern his own country over the next five years. He now has to put his words into action.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Malcolm Brabant in Paris.

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