Marine Le Pen invokes Martin Luther King Jr as Trump criticises ‘witch hunt’ against far-right leader
Meanwhile, the centrist camp loyal to 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 Jordan Bardella during the rally.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 Truth Social, Trump called the ruling a “witch hunt” and drew a parallel to his own 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”.
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Echoing the language of right-wing populism, Le Pen said her conviction as part of a broader European campaign against nationalists, echoing similar claims from European nationalist figures like 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.”
