The far-right French presidential candidate, who is just a stone’s throw away from power, has been at the forefront of politics since taking over the leadership of her father’s party in 2010. But over the years, covering three presidential nominations and many local campaigns, it is easy to lose track of Le Pen’s positions and statements, especially given the effort it has made to tarnish its image. Not only did it change the name of its party from National Front to National Coalition, but Le Pen also reversed issues as important as whether France should remain in the eurozone and whether or not it is an admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin. To refresh memories of the final round of the April 24 election, when Le Pen will face President Emanuel Macron for the second time, here is a list of Le Pen’s top 10 controversial statements about everything, from her role France. the gathering of Jews during World War II with Islamic headscarves and what he would do with immigrants seeking to impose on us “ways of life that are not ours”.
1. “France is not responsible for Vél ‘d’Hiv”
Commenting on the largest deportation of Jews from France to Germany in World War II during the 2017 presidential election, Le Pen said: “If there are people in charge, it is those who were in power at the time, not France.” He added that he wanted the children of France “to be proud to be French again”. In July 1942, 13,000 Jews were arrested, held in the Vélodrome d’Hiver in Paris – or Vél ‘d’Hiv – and transferred to Auschwitz, where the French Vichy was the largest Jewish gathering. Thousands of police officers and civilians took part in the arrest.
2. “France is a university for jihadists”
Also in 2017, during a televised debate with her opponents in the first round of the presidency, Le Pen said to former Prime Minister François Fillon: “The policy of the government you led was utter nonsense. It brought the Islamists to power in Libya, it weakened the integrity of the region – we now have radical Islamism in our territory. “France is a university for jihadists.”
3. “The exchange rate is the opposite [our Republic’s] meritocracy”
Lepen claims to be an ardent supporter of women’s rights. “I’m a feminist,” she told French television in March last year, adding that she was “not hostile to men.” But during her first presidential campaign in 2012, Le Pen was caught saying that “the exchange rate is the opposite [our Republic’s] He later defended the allegation, arguing that it was against positive discrimination, as “holding a share for women has unpleasant consequences” and that this makes women themselves look like “the quota”.
4. “Prayers were said in public places; it is an occupation”
At a party demonstration in 2010, Le Pen condemned after comparing Muslim prayers in the streets of France with the Nazi occupation during World War II. “Fifteen years ago we had the veil, there were more and more veils. Then there was the burqa, more and more burqas. “And then prayers were said in the streets; now there are 10 or 15 places where a certain number of people come regularly and occupy the whole space,” he said. “For those who like to talk a lot about World War II, if it’s a matter of occupation; that’s a matter of territory,” he added to applause.
5. “The policies I represent are the policies that Mr. Trump represents [and] Mr. Putin “
In a 2017 interview with the BBC, Le Pen focused on former German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s austerity policy and immigration policies towards Syrian refugees, saying: “She [Merkel] let 1.5 million immigrants in… Impose austerity on all the nations of Europe. And, incidentally, it is becoming more and more isolated, because the policies I represent are the policies that Mr’s represent. [Donald] Trump, represented by Mr. [Vladimir] “Putin. The British people have just made it clear that they want to go in that direction.”
6. “Anti-Semitism is due to the implantation of Islam in our country”
At the height of the debate over the rise of the Islamic State in 2014, Lepen wrote on Twitter: “Our Jewish compatriots know this, anti-Semitism is due to the implantation of Islam in our country.” The comment is controversial, and not just because of France’s long and complicated history of anti-Semitism – its party also had a strong anti-Semitic past under Jean-Marie’s father.
7. “Did you win your car in the lottery?”
While campaigning in the northern city of Hénin-Beaumont in 2012, a North African man in a passing car saw Le Pen and shouted, “Long live Melanson!” – in relation to its far-left rival Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “Did you win your car in the lottery? Or through work? ” Lepen replied. “Every time men shout ‘Long live Melanson’, it’s the Maghreb – every time,” he later explained.
8. “The veil is not an insignificant piece of cloth, it is an indicator of radicalism”
In 2019, Julien Odoul, a representative of the regional assembly from Le Pen’s party, asked a Muslim woman accompanying the children to the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté assembly building to remove her veil. The comments caused a storm, with President Emanuel Macron having to intervene later and urging people not to “stigmatize” Muslims. But Le Pen doubled down and defended Odoul on Europe 1 radio, saying “the veil is not a hat or a ribbon – it has been a decades-long demand of the Muslim Brotherhood to cover women.”
9. “I hope we do not find you having an offshore bank account in the Bahamas”
During the “Big Debate” in the 2017 presidential election, the then leader of the National Front rumored that Macron’s opponent had an offshore bank account. The allegations, which began with fake documents spread on Twitter in the last days of the campaign, were soon refuted by many French media outlets. “This is slander,” Macron replied. Le Pen’s supposedly weak performance in the debate damaged her poll score and Macron easily won the second round.
10. “Perpetrators from France, in prison. Foreigners on planes “
As she launched her 2022 election campaign in the Cote d’Azur resort of Fréjus last September, Le Pen told supporters: “We will eliminate… all those, Islamists or non-Islamists, who want to impose rules and lifestyles that are not their own. us. The offenders will be put out of danger; offenders from France, in prison. “Foreigners on planes.”
