Far-right leaders rally around Le Pen

Prominent European far-right and nationalist figures as well as Donald Trump and Elon Musk rallied around Marine Le Pen after a French court sentenced her to a five-year ban on running for office.

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Ms Le Pen was convicted over a scheme to take advantage of European Parliament expenses to employ assistants who were actually working for her far-right party in France.

Ms Le Pen as well as the other officials from her party said the sanction should come into force with immediate effect even if an appeal is lodged.

Mr Trump compared Ms Le Pen’s conviction to his own US legal battles, telling reporters: “She was banned from running for five years and she is the leading candidate. That sounds like this country.”

Tesla’s billionaire owner Elon Musk, who has backed a far-right party in Germany and plays a major role in Mr Trump’s administration, said the move would “backfire, like the legal attacks against President Trump”.

“Je suis Marine” (“I’m Marine”) Hungarian nationalist leader Viktor Orban said in French on X, echoing the cry “Je suis Charlie” widely used to denounce a 2015 Islamist attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper in Paris.