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French President Francois Hollande: Trump's 'Excesses Make You Want To Retch'

"Democracy is also as stake, as we see more and more people tempted by authoritarianism," Hollande told reporters in Paris on Tuesday.

French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday reprimanded the “excesses” of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, calling his statements "sickening."

"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," Hollande told journalists at a gathering in Paris, according to the AFP.

Hollande’s comments follow Trump's attacks on Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of an American soldier killed in Iraq.

The French president called Trump’s comments "hurtful and humiliating" and noted the importance of the upcoming U.S. presidential election for the entire world.

"Democracy is also as stake, as we see more and more people tempted by authoritarianism," Hollande said. "Should the American people choose Trump, there will be consequences because a U.S. election is a global election."

Hollande expressed his concern for how a Trump presidency could swing international politics.

"The U.S. campaign provides themes that will then come into the French campaign," Hollande said, before adding that what was previously an "unthinkable" Trump administration has now become "foreseeable."

On politicians in general, Hollande said "they should be respected when they are respectable."

Image: French President Francois Hollande speaks during the annual television interview at the Elysee Palace following the Bastille Day military parade in Paris
French President Francois HollandePOOL / Reuters