Donald Trump makes you 'want to retch', says Francois Hollande

French president warns Republican win could shift French politics to the right

'Democracy is at stake', warns French president Francois Hollande (Reuters)

French president Francois Hollande has said the consequences of a win for Donald Trump at the US election in November would have global repercussions, and that the Republican nominee made people “want to retch”.

During a conference with French journalists, Mr Hollande railed against Mr Trump’s campaign “excesses”, and warned that his increasingly authoritarian tone could shift politics to the right in other countries.

“In the US, one of the world’s great democracies, maybe the greatest democracy, where democracy was born, before the French one, we see some excesses that are sickening,” Mr Hollande said.

“Democracy is also at stake, as we see more and more people tempted by authoritarianism.

“Should the American people choose Trump, there will be consequences because a US election is a global election.”

He added: “His excesses make you want to retch, even in the United States, especially when – as was Donald Trump's case – he speaks ill of a soldier, of the memory of a soldier,” AFP reports.

The French president’s remarks follow Mr Trump’s attack on the parents of a Muslim US soldier killed in Iraq, which Mr Hollande described as “hurtful and humiliating”.

A victory for Mr Trump could also influence French politics, Mr Hollande said.

“The US campaign provides themes that will then come into the French campaign,” he said, adding that a Trump win was once “unthinkable”, but admitted it is now “foreseeable”.

The French president has not yet announced whether he plans to run for re-election in 2017, but the far-right party, Front National (FN) candidate, Marine le Pen, is now seen as a front runner in the presidential race.

It comes after Barack Obama said Mr Trump was "unfit to serve as president" and "woefully unprepared" for the role, in his strongest attack on the Republican yet.