Marine Le Pen’s Trump-style defiance over her conviction leaves France and its far right in a bind
Marine Le Pen has been a superstar of Europe’s far-right movement until a spectacular court ruling banned her from running for the French presidency in 2027.
Marine Le Pen has for years been a superstar of Europe’s far-right movement. That was until this week, when a spectacular court ruling banned her from running in France’s 2027 presidential election — a vote she looked well placed to win.
Now, the future looks difficult for Le Pen, 56, who was found guilty of running a “system” of embezzlement that siphoned $3.4 million of European Union funds to her National Rally party.
The implications are also unclear for her party and the wider European far-right movement, which has won friends in President Donald Trump’s White House.
Just like Trump in the United States, Le Pen has attacked the French legal system, condemning the ruling as a rigged attempt to block her from power. Those comments are a marked departure from her years of efforts to become a respected, mainstream force in European politics.
The National Rally leader has vowed to appeal her five-year election ban and two-year suspended prison sentence, plus another two with an electronic ankle tag. She was among two dozen defendants from her party.
Rating: 5