Over 42,000 have signed an online petition urging Barack Obama to run for president of France, the BCC is reporting.
The push to get the former U.S. president to enter the campaign started as a prank by a handful of anonymous French citizens to highlight what they say is a lack of inspirational candidates, according to the BBC.
It began with campaign posters showing the face of the former American president.
"Obama17" was printed below the photo, along with the words: "Oui, on peut," which translate to his 2008 campaign slogan, "Yes, we can."
But the idea appears to be picking up steam, although the BBC notes Obama is not a French citizen and is not eligible to run.
So far, the organizers of the Obama push have remained anonymous. In a New York Times video, they chose to wear smiling Obama masks to hide their identities.
"We like to say it's a joke, but it has its roots in us being fed up," says a woman, who helped spearhead the Obama movement.
"We're worried that it (the election campaigning) will lead us to make choices that are too radical and that it'll promote candidates who are outside the system like in the United States, Trump. We don't want that to happen to us."
One Paris resident, identified as Rosaline in the Times' video, said: "Do the current candidates carry enough weight? Well, no not really and those who I really like have very little chance of getting through. So maybe Obama would."
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