{"id":2417944,"date":"2025-03-31T12:20:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T16:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/outrage-erupts-as-french-judge-bans-leading-right-wing-presidential-candidate-from-running-for-office\/"},"modified":"2025-03-31T12:22:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T16:22:53","slug":"outrage-erupts-as-french-judge-bans-leading-right-wing-presidential-candidate-from-running-for-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/outrage-erupts-as-french-judge-bans-leading-right-wing-presidential-candidate-from-running-for-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Outrage Erupts as French Judge Bans Leading Right-Wing Presidential Candidate from Running for Office"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Foutrage-erupts-as-french-judge-bans-leading-right-wing-presidential-candidate-from-running-for-office%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2417944&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A French court has sentenced Marine Le Pen, leader of the right-wing party National Rally, too a five-year ban from <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">holding public office due<\/a> to embezzlement. This ruling has serious implications for her political future, as it could prevent her from running in the 2027 presidential election, which she has described as akin to &#8220;political death.&#8221; Even though Le Pen can appeal the decision, the ruling takes effect immediately, and her ineligibility remains in place during the appeal process.<\/p>\n<p>During the trial, Le Pen argued that being barred from office would disenfranchise the millions of voters who supported her. Prosecutors sought a two<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tiger-king-makes-post-addressing-trump-in-midst-of-pardons\/\" title=\"Tiger King Makes Post Addressing Trump in Midst of Pardons\">-year prison sentance<\/a> and a five-year ineligibility period. The court&#8217;s verdict was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cdc-lowers-covid-19-death-count-by-more-than-72000\/\" title=\"CDC Lowers COVID-19 Death Count By More Than 72,000\">significant political blow<\/a>, not just to Le Pen, but also to her party, as other former members were found guilty of similar charges. <\/p>\n<p>Le Pen&#8217;s supporters, including her prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Jordan Bardella, criticized the ruling, claiming it undermined democracy. the case has sparked debates about the fairness of the judicial process in France, with even some of her political opponents expressing concern over the implications of the ruling for the political landscape. The court&#8217;s decision may reshape the dynamics leading into the upcoming elections, given Le Pen&#8217;s previous strong performances in presidential races.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A French court on Monday barred Marine Le Pen from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ex-clinton-lawyer-comes-short-of-admitting-fbi-raid-is-part-of-effort-to-bar-trump-from-running-for-re-election\/\" title=\"Ex-Clinton Lawyer Comes Short of Admitting FBI Raid Is Part of Effort to Bar Trump From Running for Re-Election\">seeking public office<\/a> for five years, with immediate effect, for embezzlement &mdash; a hammer blow to the right-wing leader&rsquo;s presidential hopes and an earthquake for French politics.<\/p>\n<p>Although Le Pen can appeal the verdict, such a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/usps-ends-discounts-to-shipping-consolidators-likely-raising-consumer-costs-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"USPS ends discounts to shipping consolidators, likely raising consumer costs - Washington Examiner\">move won&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t suspend her ineligibility, which could rule her out of the 2027 presidential race &mdash; a scenario she has previously described as a &ldquo;political death.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The court ruling was a political, as well as a judicial, temblor for France, hobbling one of the leading contenders to succeed President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-french-president-gets-ugly-surprise-farmers-opening-agricultural-fair\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Emmanuel Macron<\/a> at the end of his second and final term, scheduled to last into 2027. So broad were the political implications that even some of Le Pen&rsquo;s political opponents reacted by saying that court had gone too far.<\/p>\n<p>Le Pen herself wasn&rsquo;t around to hear the chief judge pronounce the sentence that threw her career into a tailspin. By then, she&rsquo;d already strode out of the courtroom, when the judge first indicated that Le Pen would be barred from office, without saying straight away for how long.<\/p>\n<p>Although Le Pen didn&rsquo;t immediately comment, her supporters were quick to express disapproval. Jordan Bardella, her 29-year-old prot&eacute;g&eacute; who could replace her on the ballot in 2027, said on X that Le Pen &ldquo;is being unjustly condemned&rdquo; and that French democracy &ldquo;is being executed.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Hungary&rsquo;s populist Prime Minister Viktor Orb&aacute;n quickly took to social media to express his support, posting &ldquo;Je suis Marine!&rdquo; &mdash; I am Marine &mdash; on X.<\/p>\n<p>Among political opponents of Le Pen who expressed unease was conservative lawmaker Laurent Wauquiez, who said the court ruling put &ldquo;a very heavy weight on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/john-fetterman-dismisses-sunny-hostins-absurd-question-trump-way-democracy-works\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">democracy<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Only an appeal ruling that overturns the ban on public office could restore her hopes of standing. But with the election just two years away, time is running out, and there&rsquo;s no guarantee that an appeals court would rule more favorably.<\/p>\n<p>The verdict was a resounding defeat for Le Pen&rsquo;s party. The judge also handed down guilty verdicts for embezzling public funds to eight other current or former members of her party who, like her, previously served as European Parliament lawmakers. Also convicted were 12 other people who served as parliamentary aides for Le Pen and what is now the National Rally party, formerly the National Front.<\/p>\n<p>The judge said Le Pen had been at the heart of &ldquo;a system&rdquo; that her party used to siphon off <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-eu-vows-us-tariffs-will-not-go-unanswered-will-trigger-tough-countermeasures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">EU<\/a> parliament money. The judge said Le Pen and other co-defendants didn&rsquo;t enrich themselves personally. But the ruling described the embezzlement as &ldquo;a democratic bypass&rdquo; that deceived the parliament and voters. Le Pen and her co-defendants denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p>From the front row of the court, Le Pen had initially shown no immediate reaction when the judge first declared her guilty. But she grew more agitated as the verdict was then delivered in greater detail. She nodded her head in disagreement as the judge said Le Pen&rsquo;s party had illegally used European Parliament money for its own benefit.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Incredible,&rdquo; Le Pen whispered at one point. She then abruptly left without warning, picking up her bag and striding out.<\/p>\n<p>The court sentenced Le Pen to two years&rsquo; imprisonment under house arrest, but it was the political ramifications of ineligibility that dealt the biggest blow to her foreseeable political future.<\/p>\n<p>Le Pen, 56, was runner-up to President Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, and her party&rsquo;s electoral support has grown in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>During the nine-week trial that took place in late 2024, she argued that ineligibility &ldquo;would have the effect of depriving me of being a presidential candidate&rdquo; and disenfranchise her supporters.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent. So tomorrow, potentially, millions and millions of French people would see themselves deprived of their candidate in the election,&rdquo; she told the panel of three judges.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors requested a two-year prison sentence and a five-year period of ineligibility for Le Pen.<\/p>\n<p>Le Pen said she felt they were &ldquo;only interested&rdquo; in preventing her from running for president.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-style: italic;\">The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A French court has prohibited Marine Le Pen from holding public office for five years due to embezzlement, significantly damaging her presidential ambitions and shaking the political landscape in France. While she can appeal the decision, it won&#8217;t lift her ineligibility, potentially excluding her from the 2027 presidential race\u2014a situation she has previously labeled as a &#8220;political death.&#8221; The ruling poses a serious challenge to one of the main candidates aiming to succeed President Emmanuel Macron after his term ends in 2027. The political fallout was so significant that even some of Le Pen&#8217;s rivals expressed concern that the court had overstepped its bounds. Le Pen left the courtroom before hearing the full details of her sentence, which included guilty verdicts for eight other members of her party involved in similar offenses. The judge described a system used by Le Pen&#8217;s party to misappropriate EU funds but noted that they did not personally profit from it. Despite denying any wrongdoing, Le Pen showed visible agitation during the proceedings and ultimately exited abruptly after receiving her sentence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2417945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/05f425db79564daea8686cffc035b96b-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[5777,5894,52553],"class_list":["post-2417944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-france","tag-politics","tag-rightwing"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/05f425db79564daea8686cffc035b96b-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2417944"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2417948,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417944\/revisions\/2417948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2417945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2417944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2417944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2417944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}