Condoleezza Rice says issues driving populist candidates must be addressed

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that the issues fueling populists candidates need to be addressed.

“The impulses and the sentiments that have brought populists to power in some places, and have made them stronger than they’ve ever been in their national electorates … have to be dealt with,” Ms. Rice said on CBS News. “They are changing the character of politics.”

The former secretary of state under President George W. Bush reacted to the unprecedented popularity of French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. Ms. Le Pen, former president of the far-right French National Front Party, lost her election bid to centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron over the weekend.

Ms. Rice said the issue is that populist politics are forcing centrist candidates to address those type of issues in their campaigns.

“What you’re seeing is that even centrist candidates are responding to populists. Who talks these days about free trade, who is really willing to talk in favor of immigrants?” she said.

“You have to deal with the root causes, and that’s where we really have to go,” Ms. Rice said.

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