Marine Le Pen evokes Martin Luther King Jr as Trump criticises ‘witch hunt’
By Rob Harris
London: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has likened her battle against a court ruling barring her from running in the next presidential election to the struggle for civil rights led by Martin Luther King Jr in the 1960s.
Speaking at a rally at Les Invalides in central Paris on Sunday, local time, the hard-right leader vowed to resist what she called a political decision aimed at keeping her from power.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen speaks in Paris on Sunday.Credit: AP
Le Pen, who was convicted last week of embezzling €2.9 million ($5.2 million) from the European Parliament through a fake jobs scam, expressed outrage over the French court’s decision, which sentenced her to house arrest, imposed a €100,000 fine, and banned her from holding public office for five years.
The 56-year-old’s speech was streamed to supporters waving tricolour flags, as she sought to rally the National Rally movement following the ruling.
Speaking from a podium emblazoned with the words “Let’s save democracy”, she said: “I will never give up”, as she likened her campaign for political survival to that of the American civil rights leader.
“The line we follow will never be that of brutality, but the peaceful one of … Martin Luther King for the civil rights of American citizens oppressed at that time. We intend to invite all French people enamoured of liberty to join us in a peaceful, democratic, popular and patriotic resistance.”
People rally in support of Marine Le Pen in Paris on Sunday.Credit: AP
Le Pen’s remarks came amid a backdrop of competing protests in Paris. While her National Rally held its demonstration near Napoleon’s tomb at Les Invalides, the radical-left France Unbowed movement gathered on the south side of the Seine to express opposition to her far-right politics.
Authorities reported 7000 attendees at the National Rally’s protest and 5000 at the left-wing rally. French media reported police presence was heavy, with riot officers deployed and snipers perched atop surrounding buildings.
Meanwhile, the centrist camp loyal to French President Emmanuel Macron also organised a demonstration in support of Gabriel Attal, a potential successor to Macron, as the political jockeying ahead of the 2027 election intensifies. Attal, a former prime minister, criticised Le Pen’s rhetoric.
“The National Rally demands a firm line for everyone except itself,” he said. “How can you be credible with a juvenile delinquent if politicians don’t respect the rules? If you steal, you must pay for it.”
Marine Le Pen with the National Rally president Jordan Bardella. Credit: AP
Polls indicate that Le Pen remains the frontrunner for the 2027 presidential election, with significant support among French voters dissatisfied with the political establishment. However, her path to the presidency is now uncertain, depending on the outcome of her appeal against the court’s ruling next year.
Her plight had found support from US President Donald Trump, who took to social media at the weekend to declare she, like him, was a victim of so-called lawfare.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called the ruling a “witch hunt” and drew a parallel to his legal battles in the United States. “FREE MARINE LE PEN!” Trump wrote, framing the charges against her as politically motivated, claiming she had been “caught on a minor charge”.
Echoing the language of right-wing populism, Le Pen said her conviction was part of a broader European campaign against nationalists, echoing similar claims from European nationalist figures such as Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Italy’s Matteo Salvini, and the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders.
“They are doing this for a single reason,” she said. “We are winning.
“This is a perverse game aimed at criminalising political opposition and ensuring that the establishment retains power, even as it drives the country to ruin.”
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