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Marine Le Pen spoke at a support rally organized in Paris on Sunday.
Le Pen supporters protest her electoral ban in Paris
Approximately 15,000 supporters of France’s far right gathered at Place Vauban in Paris on Sunday to support Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally party. The three-time presidential candidate was recently convicted of embezzling European Union funds to pay staff, resulting in a five-year ban on holding public office, effectively barring her from France’s 2027 presidential election.
The event was described by French media as more of a campaign launch than a protest. Jordan Bardella, the 29-year-old president of the National Rally and Le Pen’s protégé, delivered a fiery speech accusing the judiciary of creating “a system determined to crush dissent,” while across the Seine, a small counter demonstration called for “No Trumpism in France.”
In a video address to an Italian far-right party before the protest, Le Pen invoked the legacy of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. as the inspiration for her “nonviolent, democratic struggle” against what she calls a politically motivated “witch hunt.” At the protest, she declared her intention to appeal the ruling, with a decision expected by summer 2026.
The timing of Le Pen’s appeal is critical for the future of France’s nationalist party. If her conviction and ban are upheld, she will be unable to run for president in 2027. While Bardella is popular, he does not have as devoted a following as Le Pen, and his youth and inexperience could work against him.French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, member of parliament of the Rassemblement National party, leaves the courthouse on the day of the verdict of her trial alongside 24 other defendants over accusations of misappropriation of European Union funds, in Paris, France, on March 31, 2025.
Le Pen barred from running from office after embezzlement conviction
Oh là là! A French court on Monday found National Rally leader Marine Le Pen guilty of misappropriating European funds to her far-right party, and barred the three-time presidential candidate barred from running for office for the next five years. Le Pen has denied wrongdoing and said last November, “It’s my political death that’s being demanded.”
Les détails: French authorities accused Le Pen of hiring assistants while she was a member of the European Parliament and using them to perform party operations, even as the European Parliament was paying their wages. As well as barring her from running for office, the judge sentenced the anti-immigrant politician to four years in jail — two are suspended and the other two must be served with an electronic tag. Le Pen will speak on French TV at 8 p.m. CEST (2 p.m. EST).
Plus ça change ... Le Pen is the latest far-right politician to run into legal trouble in recent years. Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of corruption, the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled last week that former President Jair Bolsonaro must stand trial over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2022 election, and US President Donald Trump was convicted last year of falsifying business records in a bid to influence the 2016 election — he escaped punishment by winning reelection.
After a third-place finish in the 2012 presidential election, Le Pen made it through to the head-to-head runoff in both 2017 and 2022 but lost to President Emmanuel Macron on both occasions. She is expected to appeal this ruling, with a retrial likely taking place just months before the 2027 election. If she is allowed to run for a fourth time, she may be in her strongest position yet.