President Trump weighed in on French far-right leader Marine Le Pen being barred from seeking office for five years after being convicted of embezzlement, telling reporters that it is a “very big deal” and that it sounds “like this country.”
"That big deal, that's a very big deal. I know all about it. And a lot of people thought she wasn't going to be convicted of anything,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “And 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," he added.
On Monday, a court in Paris found the leader of France’s far-right National Rally party guilty of embezzling European Parliament funds. As a result of the verdict, Le Pen is prevented from participating in elections for at least five years.
The explosive ruling, which takes effect immediately, would likely sideline her from entering France’s 2027 presidential election.
Le Pen, who ran for president in the country’s 2022 election, said she would appeal the ruling and is looking to have it concluded before France’s next presidential cycle, slated to take place in two years. Until the appeal is decided, she will remain ineligible.
She slammed the French court’s ruling Monday in an interview with broadcaster TF1.
“If that’s not a political decision, I don’t know what is,” Le Pen said during the interview, the first one she gave after the ruling was announced.
“There are millions of French people who believe in me, millions of French people who trust me. 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,” the three-time presidential candidate added.
The ruling was also criticized by a number of Le Pen’s right-wing allies in Europe, ranging from Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders to Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote in a post on social media platform X: "Je suis Marine."
Translated to English, the phrase means "I am Marine.”
