U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded France grant Marine Le Pen political freedom and labelled her ban from running for high office a “witch hunt” which serves as “another example of European Leftists using lawfare to silence free speech.”
Trump made his damning call in a post on his Truth Social social media network:
A Paris court on Monday barred the National Rally leader from running for office for five years after she was convicted of misappropriating over $3.27 million in E.U. funds to pay party staff in France.
The judge overseeing the case called her actions a “serious and lasting attack on democratic rules in Europe, especially France.” In addition to the five-year ban, Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison (two suspended), house arrest, and fined upwards of $100,000.
Trump said while he did not know Le Pen, he admired her persistence, saying she “kept on going” despite setbacks. He also called the charge against her a “bookkeeping” error.
The president’s views echo those of his top campaign donor and ally, Elon Musk, who criticized Le Pen’s sentence earlier this week on X, stating: “When the radical left can’t win through democratic vote, they misuse the legal system to imprison their opponents.”
‘Political Death Sentence’ Populist Marine Le Pen Banned From Running in French Presidential Election by Paris Courthttps://t.co/vKLCMcs5OD
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 31, 2025
The Trump administration has also previously criticized attacks on the right in Europe, including the rerun of Romania’s presidential election due to alleged Russian interference.
For her part, Le Pen has vowed to fight the Paris court’s decision to ban her from standing in the upcoming presidential election, accusing the judiciary of acting politically and attempting to undermine the people’s sovereignty, as Breitbart News reported.
Le Pen, the undisputed frontrunner in the polls for the presidential race, has claimed the ruling is something usually seen in “authoritarian regimes.”
