Photo via NBC News
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On March 31, 2025, French political leader Marine Le Pen was found guilty of embezzling European Union funds to her party, National Rally (RN). The ruling includes a four-year prison sentence with two years suspended, to be served under house arrest, and a €100,000 ($108,000) fine. National Rally was ordered to pay €2 million in fines out of the € 4.1 million they have been accused of embezzling between 2004 and 2016.
In addition to the sentence, Le Pen received a five-year ban from running for office. The outcome of the case has shattered Le Pen’s hopes for the 2027 election in France, where National Rally is projected to lead. French politician Jordan Bardella has assumed Le Pen’s role as RN’s president in her absence.
The French government’s decision to ban Le Pen from running is not unprecedented. In Articles 433-1 to 433-4 of the French Criminal Code, embezzlement and any other felonies bar candidates from voting and holding public office. This is not a new addition to the criminal code, nor was it added to influence the decision reached on March 31st directly.
However, that has not prevented the outrage and anti-government rhetoric from the National Rally party. Supporters from all over the country gathered in Paris on April 6, protesting the French court’s decision and credibility. Party leaders and officials added to the outrage, rallying in support of Le Pen, despite evidence of criminal conduct.
Le Pen’s reaction to the ruling is expected. At a rally on April 6, Le Pen referred to the ruling as a “witch hunt,” claiming the ruling was a purely political decision.
Bardella added to Le Pen’s response, claiming the ruling was “a direct attack on democracy and a wound to millions of patriotic French people” and the judges “aimed to eliminate her from the presidential race.”
The ruling comes at a time when Europe’s politics are shifting. Several countries within the European Union, including Hungary, Italy, and Germany, have all started to lean further and further right, running on populist, anti-immigration, and anti-European Union platforms. National Rally is France’s leading alt-right party and has been steadily gaining popularity since Le Pen’s first run for President in 2012.
In June 2024, the party won the European Parliament elections in a landslide with 31.4% of the votes. This caused French President Emmanuel Macron to call a snap election, dissolving Parliament until the National Rally was voted out.
Since the snap election in June, supporters of the National Rally feel that the French government has acted inappropriately, using its power to silence and suppress the party. Supporters believed that RNs had the right to remain in power, as they were elected to the position fairly. The French government, however, stated that the National Rally’s ideologies are “dangerous,” and dissolved the Parliament specifically to keep them out of power.
Multiple far-right European leaders have announced their support of Le Pen, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni. Support has even spread overseas, with U.S. President Donald Trump defending Le Pen.
“She was banned from running for five years, and she’s the leading candidate — that sounds like this country,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. President Trump’s defense of Le Pen should come as no surprise, considering he was tried and found guilty of 34 felony counts right before the 2024 presidential election.
President Trump’s comments have inspired another wave of anti-government rhetoric from the French alt-right. His attitude towards the ruling has only given National Rally more reason to believe their suspicions that the government is working against them.
“The system’s not broken—it’s rigged,” said Alice Triquet, a 26-year-old supporter of National Rally. “If they can do this to her, what stops them from coming after anyone who doesn’t think like them?”
These sentiments are a common attribute of alt-right parties. If their party does not rule the current government, every action taken against them is done deliberately to silence and suppress them. Even if there is a surmounting amount of evidence that their leader has committed wrongdoing, they firmly believe that these decisions are purely political.
Marine Le Pen’s lawyers have confirmed that an appeal against the ruling will be filed. However, it is clear that no matter the outcome, the National Rally already has the ammunition needed to increase its numbers in the polls. If the appeal is denied, sentiments that this is a “witch hunt” will only continue. If the appeal is granted, Le Pen is considered a hero, an underdog who defeated the corruption of the French court.
No matter what, Le Pen is their martyr, and the French government’s attempts to prevent RN from becoming the ruling party are squandered completely.
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This article was edited by Colin Mitchell.
Thomas Tisdale 
David Tomanelli 
Sinhawe Haji