French National Rally Party leader Marine Le Pen being barred from seeking office for five years after her conviction for embezzlement is a "very big deal," and it sounds like something that could happen in the United States, according to President Donald Trump.
"A lot of people thought she wasn't going to be convicted of anything," Trump told reporters Monday, reports The Hill. "I don't know if it means conviction, but she was banned for running for five years, and she was the leading candidate. That sounds like this country, it sounds very much like this country."
A Paris court found Le Pen guilty Monday of embezzling funds from the European Union Parliament, and as a result, she is not permitted to participate in elections over the next five years, which could sideline her from running in France's presidential election in 2027.
She and 24 other party officials were accused of having used money intended for European Union parliamentary aides to instead pay staff who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, violating the 27-nation bloc's regulations. LePen ran for president in 2022 and said she will appeal the ruling against her. She said that she hopes to have her appeal concluded before the next presidential cycle, but she will remain ineligible for the election until an appeal ruling is reached.
She also said Monday, in an interview with TF1, that if the ruling is "not a political decision, I don't know what is."
"There are millions of French people who believe in me, millions of French people who trust me," she added. "For 30 years I've been fighting for you, and for 30 years I've been fighting against injustice, so I'm going to continue fighting."
Several of Le Pen's allies in Europe criticized the ruling, including Dutch populist Geert Wilders and Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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