Prominent European far-right and nationalist figures as well as Elon Musk on Monday rallied around Marine Le Pen after a French court sentenced her to a five-year ban on running for office.
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.
Le Pen as well as the other officials from her party were banned from running for office, with the judge specifying that the sanction should come into force with immediate effect even if an appeal is lodged.
Tesla’s billionaire owner Elon Musk, who backed a far-right party in Germany and played a major role in US President Donald 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 posted 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.
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