French presidential campaign spotlights Muslim headscarves

PERTUIS, France (AP) — Muslim headscarves have taken center stage in France’s presidential campaign amid far-right candidate Marine Le Pen’s push to ban them. She is facing a tightly contested April 24 runoff against incumbent Emmanuel Macron. A woman wearing a headscarf confronted Le Pen on a campaign stop at a farmers’ market Friday, asking why her clothing choices should be caught up in politics. Le Pen called the headscarf a “uniform” imposed by Islamic radicals. Macron also debated a woman in a Muslim headscarf on Friday. The centrist president has come under criticism from activists for measures and rhetoric seen as alienating Muslims. France has western Europe’s largest Muslim community.