Left-wing Trump critic wins Mexico’s presidential election

Left-wing presidential candidate and noted Trump critic Andrés Manuel López Obrador won Mexico’s presidential election on Sunday, according to The Associated Press. 

The Associated Press reported that Mexico’s ruling party candidate, Jose Antonio Meade, conceded defeat to López Obrador on Sunday after the left-wing candidate garnered a major edge in exit polling. 

BREAKING: Jose Antonio Meade of Mexico’s ruling party concedes defeat to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in presidential vote

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 2, 2018 

BREAKING: Exit poll in Mexico gives big edge to leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in 3rd bid for presidency

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 2, 2018

López Obrador, who is the former mayor of Mexico City, has run for president twice before. 

He is also a vocal critic of President Trump and wrote a book titled “Oye, Trump” (“Listen Up, Trump”), which slams the U.S. president’s plans to build a wall along the U.S. southern border. 

López Obrador continued to hit back against Trump on Wednesday, telling supporters at a rally that Mexico “will never be the piñata of any foreign government.” 

His victory comes as U.S.-Mexican relations have soured under the Trump administration. 

Trump has railed against the U.S.’s southern neighbor ever since his announcement of his run for president in 2015, saying Mexico was sending rapists, drugs and crime across the U.S. border.

The president has also repeatedly said Mexico would pay for the U.S. border wall despite President Enrique Peña Nieto repeatedly saying his country would never pay for the structure. 

Trump has also deepened economic tensions with Mexico, threatening to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement and enacting steep tariffs on imports of steel, aluminum and other products from the country.

–Updated July 2 at 8:30 a.m.