The far right in France had a big win this month, crushing the party of President Emmanuel Macron in elections for the European Parliament. But the results did not affect France’s government at home — until Mr. Macron changed that.

Roger Cohen, the Paris bureau chief for The Times, discusses the huge political gamble Mr. Macron has taken, which has brought the far right closer than ever to gaining real power in France.

Guest: Roger Cohen, the Paris bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Battered by the far right in voting for the European Parliament, Emmanuel Macron called foreuropean-elections.html"> new elections in France.
• The president has challenged voters to test the sincerity of their support for the far right. Were the French letting off steam in the European elections, or did theymacron-elections-analysis.html"> really mean it?

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.