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Le Pen’s aspirations for the presidency were thwarted following the ruling in France.
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FURTHER READING: French Judge Handling Le Pen Case Receives Security Due to Threats
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President
Donald Trump
compared himself to the convicted French presidential hopeful
Marine Le Pen
, describing her disqualification from holding elective offices as “a very significant matter.”
“That’s quite significant. That’s really a major development,” Trump stated to journalists in the Oval Office.
He showed empathy towards Le Pen and mentioned that her circumstances “sound quite similar to what this country is experiencing.”
I’m well aware of everything, and many believed she wouldn’t face any convictions. While I’m not sure if it counts as a conviction, she was barred from running for office for half a decade, yet she remains the frontrunner. It seems so typical of this nation,” he concluded.
On Monday, Le Pen, aged 56, was found guilty of establishing fictitious employment positions within the European Parliament and misusing expense allowances to pay staffers who were primarily working for her political party.
France
.
The leader of the far-right RN party was prohibited from holding public office for five years and received a four-year prison term; however, she won’t serve time behind bars since half of her sentence is suspended, and the remainder will be carried out under house arrest with an electronic monitor.
Trump has frequently presented himself as a victim of a government-led “witch hunt” and investigations driven by political motives.
Trump has been subject to many lawsuits from state and federal governments:
- In 2024, New York State found him guilty of tampering with business documents concerning payments made to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels. However, his sentencing has been put off indefinitely after he won a second term as president.
- Before the November 2024, a federal judge dismissed the federal charges relating to Trump’s handling of classified documents
- Following Trump’s victory in the election, the special counsel opted to drop the federal charges connected to the 2020 electoral process, referring to the Justice Department’s guideline of avoiding prosecution for incumbent presidents.
- A case against in Georgia is on pause while the courts decide whether a state-level prosecutor can prosecute a sitting president
He refuted any claims of misconduct in all the cases.
Various members of the Trump administration have supported President Trump’s position regarding Le Pen.
Trump’s DOGE adviser
Elon Musk
also criticized the French court’s ruling
, saying: ‘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.’
And S
The State Department representative Tammy Bruce mentioned that they were aware of Le Pen’s sentencing.
‘The exclusion of individuals from participating in politics is especially troubling considering the relentless and dishonest legal attacks launched against President [Donald] Trump in this country,’ Bruce stated.
However, she chose not to comment specifically about Le Pen’s situation.
The ruling on Monday was viewed as
a significant setback for Le Pen’s longstanding ambitions to ascend to the presidency in 2027
.
She was additionally required to pay a $100,000 fine, and her party had $2 million deducted from their funds—$1 million immediately, with another $1 million pending should they violate the rules again.
Le Pen has the option to appeal her sentence. Should the appeal not succeed, she faces a four-year jail term—two years suspended with two years to serve under house arrest.
Twenty-four individuals, including Le Pen, were found guilty; they were all either RN party officials or aides. Just one defendant was cleared of any misconduct.
Le Pen stated she intends to file an appeal.
She contended that the court shouldn’t have rendered her ineligible to run for office without allowing her to exhaust all possible appeals first. She also asserted that the ruling clearly demonstrated an intent ‘to specifically thwart’ her election as president.
“If that isn’t a political decision, then I’m not sure what qualifies as one,” Le Pen stated during the TF1 interview.
She stated that the decision represented a ‘critical moment for our democracy,’ yet she affirmed her commitment to continue pursuing what she referrednown as the somewhat limited path to the presidency.
“There are millions of French individuals who have faith in me, millions who place their trust in me,” she said additionally.
‘I have been advocating for you for three decades, and during this time, I have also stood up against injustice. Therefore, I will keep up my fight.’
She can retain her position in the French National Assembly.
Amidst the extensive criticism surrounding the verdict, one of France’s leading public prosecutors dismissed the notion that politics played any role in Monday’s ruling.
“Justice is apolitical; this isn’t a political choice but rather a legal one made by three independent and unbiased judges,” said Remy Heitz during an interview with RTL radio station.
Not only Trump expressed criticism of the verdict; other conservative figures across Europe also condemned it sharply.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that the decision disqualifying Le Pen has deprived millions of French and European Union voters of their right to vote.
“I am not aware of the validity of the charges against Marine Le Pen or the rationale behind such a stringent measure,” said Meloni, who leads the Brothers of Italy party, in an interview with Il Messaggero.
However, I believe that nobody concerned with democracy can feel joy over a verdict that penalizes the head of a significant political party and disenfranchises millions of voters.
Russia also waded in.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told journalists: “An increasing number of European cities are adopting policies that disregard democratic principles.”
Absolutely, we have no intention of interfering with France’s domestic matters; this has always been our stance… However, broadly speaking, our analysis of various European cities indicates that these places are quite open to transcending democratic norms throughout their political procedures.
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