PARIS (Reuters) -Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), was handed a five-year ban from running for public office after being convicted on Monday of embezzlement, almost certainly preventing her planned run for France’s presidency in 2027.
Here are political reactions from France and other parts of the world to the sentence.
DONALD TRUMP JR, SON OF U.S. PRESIDENT
“France is sending le Pen to jail and barring her from running?! Are they just trying to prove (J.D. Vance) was right about everything?”
FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, SOCIALIST MP AND FORMER FRENCH PRESIDENT
“The only reaction I can have as a former French president is to respect the independence of the judicial system … Ms. Le Pen, like all the other convicted people, can go to the appeals court for even the ineligibility ruling.”
ELON MUSK, BILLIONAIRE WHITE HOUSE ADVISER
“When the radical left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents. This is their standard playbook throughout the world.”
FORMER BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT JAIR BOLSONARO, BARRED FROM PUBLIC OFFICE UNTIL 2030
“This ruling is clearly left-wing judicial activism. Wherever the right-wing is present, the left and the system will work to get their opponents out of the game.”
JORDAN BARDELLA, NATIONAL RALLY PRESIDENT
“Today it is not only Marine Le Pen who was unjustly condemned: It was French democracy that was killed.”
ERIC CIOTTI, FORMER PRESIDENT OF CENTRE-RIGHT REPUBLICANS
“The democratic destiny of our nation confiscated by an outrageous judicial cabal. The favoured candidate in the presidential election prevented from running. This is not a simple dysfunction. It is a system to capture power that systematically throws aside any candidate that is too far to the right and who has a chance of winning.”
ERIC ZEMMOUR, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE’S FAR-RIGHT RECONQUEST PARTY
“It is not for judges to decide who the people must vote for. Whatever our disagreements, Marine Le Pen is legitimate to run for the vote.”
PRISCA THEVENOT, CENTRIST MP AND FORMER MINISTER
“Last week … we heard lots of politicians, including Marine Le Pen with the National Rally, calling for a firm justice system – a justice system that is respected … the question I now ask the National Rally: at what level in the polls do you start thinking you are above the law?”
FABIEN ROUSSEL, NATIONAL SECRETARY OF FRENCH COMMUNIST PARTY
“Ms. Le Pen is a politician who demands firmness on the part of the judiciary! Respect the judicial system then.”
FRANCE UNBOWED, FAR-LEFT PARTY
“France Unbowed has never expected to use the courts as a way to get rid of the National Rally. We fight them at the ballot box and in the streets, with the mobilisation of the French people, as we did during the 2024 legislative elections. We will fight again tomorrow in the polls, whoever is their candidate.”
FRANCOIS RUFFIN, INDEPENDENT LEFT-WING MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AND MILITANT FILMMAKER
“Let’s set the record straight: Marine Le Pen and her 20 accomplices are not victims, they are guilty, and they are guilty of having provided fictitious employment. I would like to add that Marine Le Pen was the most vindictive on this issue … she called for lifelong immunity for all elected representatives convicted while in office.”
MARION MARECHAL, LE PEN’S NIECE AND FAR-RIGHT EUROPEAN DEPUTY
“Marine Le Pen brought our camp on the path to victory. That is the only thing she is guilty of, and that is why she was convicted.”
MATTEO SALVINI, ITALY’S FAR-RIGHT DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
“People who are afraid of the judgment of the voters are often reassured by the judgment of the courts. In Paris they have condemned Marine Le Pen and would like to exclude her from political life – an ugly film that we are also seeing in other countries such as Romania. We will not be intimidated, we will not stop: Full steam ahead my friend!”
DMITRY PESKOV, RUSSIA’S KREMLIN SPOKESMAN
“Well, indeed, more and more European capitals are going down the path of trampling over democratic norms. Of course, we do not want to interfere in France’s internal affairs, we have never done so … But in general, our observations of European capitals show that they are not at all reluctant to go beyond democracy during the political process.”
GEERT WILDERS, DUTCH FAR-RIGHT LEADER
“I am shocked by the incredible tough verdict against (Marine Le Pen). I support and believe in her 100% and I trust she will win the appeal and become President of France.”
GEORGE SIMION, HARD-RIGHT ROMANIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
“Targeting or annihilating your political opponent by any means is straight out of the instruction manual of totalitarian regimes. This happened today in (France).”
JUERGEN HARDT, CONSERVATIVE GERMAN LAWMAKER
“As a Member of the European Parliament, Marine Le Pen saw the European Union only as a self-service store with which she could finance herself and her party. The French court is right to put a stop to her political ambitions … Le Pen’s fate should be a warning to all corrupt politicians on the left and right fringes: In a democratic nation of law, fraud and corruption always come to light at some point.”
(Reporting by Makini Brice, Gianluca Lo Nostro and Benoit Van Overstraeten; additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov in Moscow, Crispian Balmer in Rome, Charlotte Van Campenhout in Amsterdam, Andreas Rinke in Berlin and Rodrigo Viga and Gabriel Araujo in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Gareth Jones, Timothy Heritage and Andrew Heavens)
