Marine Le Pen compares herself to Martin Luther King

France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen has vowed to pursue her presidential ambitions amid growing speculation her 29-year-old deputy Jordan Bardella could stand in her place.

France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen has vowed to pursue her presidential ambitions, comparing herself Martin Luther King and Alexei Navalny after she was found guilty of embezzlement and banned from standing for office.

At a rally in central Paris, Ms Le Pen insisted: “I won’t give up,” repeating her allegation that the conviction was a political, not a judicial decision.

Her intransigence came amid speculation Jordan Bardella, the National Rally chairman, could run for the presidency himself if Ms Le Pen was unable to stand.

Speaking to French media, Mr Bardella, 29, refused to refused to rule out taking his leader as his de facto running-mate in the 2027 presidential election, despite her conviction and political ban.

“I have always done what she has asked me to do,” he said told Europe 1 radio. “The French people know I have a debt towards her. I make you a promise this morning: we started this job together and we will finish it together.”

Ahead of the rally, the leader of the National Rally (RN) party urged supporters to take inspiration from the non violent campaign in the United States for equal rights for black Americans.

“We will follow the example of Martin Luther King, who defended civil rights,” she told members of Italy’s hard-right League party, who were meeting in Florence, via video-link.

She also compared herself to Alexei Navalny, Russia’s late opposition leader who died in an Arctic prison in 2024 after being jailed under President Vladimir Putin.

RN party's President Jordan Bardella (L) speaks with President of UDR parliamentary group Eric Ciotti during a rally in support of Marine Le Pen. Picture: AFP.

The National Rally (RN) party and centrist and left wing groups held rival meetings amidst renewed tensions six days after a Paris court convicted the 56-year-old of diverting European Union parliament funds.

Polls have made Ms Le Pen the frontrunner ahead of a presidential election in two years and the court sentence has stunned France’s political establishment.

Her opponents backed the court decision. “If you steal, you pay,” former prime minister Gabriel Attal told his supporters.

Ms Le Pen was given a four-year jail term, with two years suspended, and banned from public office for five years.

She said a “witch hunt” was behind the conviction.

“It is not a judicial decision, it is a political decision,” she told supporters waving French flags and chanting “Marine! Marine!”.

Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s deputy and RN chief, said there were 10,000 people at the rally. Police gave a figure of 7,000 but people at the rally said they had come from across France to support Ms Le Pen.

Mr Bardella said the party did not want to “discredit all judges” but the conviction was “a direct attack on democracy and a wound to millions of patriotic French people”.

Amidst the divisive debate over the effect of the sentence on the election, the judges who convicted Ms Le Pen have received death threats.

US President Donald Trump also called the sentence a “witch hunt” by “European leftists using lawfare to silence free speech”.

President Emmanuel Macron has insisted however the French judiciary is “independent”.

He also denounced “unprecedented interference” in France’s affairs, pointing to support for Ms Le Pen from Mr Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The Paris Court of Appeal has said it would examine Le Pen’s case in time for her to contest the 2027 election if the conviction is overturned or the punishment changed.

AFP