the last of the tribunes, a gleam in the French night

The news fell, brutally, like a bell tolling the end of an era: Jean-Marie Le Pen, the Breton menhir, is no longer. He died this Tuesday January 7, 2025 at the age of 96. With him disappears a figure that even his worst adversaries will never be able to deny: that of an outstanding tribune, an inflexible political fighter, and a man whose existence was a permanent challenge launched against a system which will have hated him as much as he will have defied him.

He was insulted, slandered, dragged through the mud. We tried to silence him, to reduce him to silence, to erase him from History. But Le Pen, a Breton with a character as tough as steel, never gave in. It has crossed the decades like a rock against which the waves of a raging ocean crash. And today, as he departs from this life, he leaves behind a fulfilled prophecy: che denounced in the 70s and 80s, what he called in his sharp words “the migratory peril”, is now unfolding before our eyes. Le Pen was right. And History proves him right, a late but implacable reason.

A visionary, a political prophet

In the years of blind prosperity of the Trente Glorieuses, Jean-Marie Le Pen was already the one who saw further than the immediate horizon. While the political class turned a blind eye, denouncing, alone against all, massive immigration as a civilizational threat. He dared to speak of a “ substitution de population » at a time when these words were considered heretical. He was among the first to point out the renunciations of the elites, to accuse successive governments of betraying France by leaving the door wide open to immigration which would upset the balance of the country.

His words, at the time, seemed exaggerated, outrageous, almost caricatured. But today, they resonate with chilling clarity. Urban violence, the explosion of communitarianism, the dislocation of the national fabric: he had seen all this, he had announced it. And he had dared to say it, against all odds, amid boos, insults, trials and condemnations. This courage to say the unspeakable, even when the media mob was unleashed, remains one of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s greatest legacies.

A man who refused to apologize

One of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s most remarkable characteristics was his absolute refusal to apologize. In a political world where denials and public apologies have become commonplace, where men betray themselves for a seat or a favor, Jean-Marie Le Pen has remained faithful to his convictions. He never sought to seduce, to soften his speech to please public opinion manipulated by the media. He spoke crudely, sometimes harshly, often provocatively. But he spoke the truth. And that’s what, deep down, earned him the hatred of the system: he refused to play by their rules, refused to bend the knee to their diktats.

This refusal to bow down, this permanent challenge, made him a special figure in a sanitized political landscape. Le Pen embodied a politics of men, a politics of grandeur and loyalty, a thousand miles from the narrow calculations and petty maneuvers of so many others. This righteousness, this refusal to compromise, was as much his honor as his curse. Because in this country where conformity is king, a man who never apologizes is necessarily a man to be brought down.

An exceptional tribune, a man of his word

Jean-Marie Le Pen was also, and perhaps above all, an exceptional speaker. His speeches, even those from his beginnings, were marked by rare eloquence, an epic breath, an ability to captivate crowds. He knew how to play with words, with silences, with emotion. He had this ability to vibrate the deepest strings of the French soul, to remind everyone of what is noble, great and proud in our History.

In an era where political speech has become insipid, formatted, calibrated to say nothing, Le Pen stood as a giant. He wielded irony like a sword, provocation like a shield, and truth like an ultimate weapon. He spoke as we no longer speak, with an epic, almost mystical breath. His speeches were acts of faith, professions of faith towards a France that he loved with passion.

A final tribute to the warrior

With Jean-Marie Le Pen a flame goes out, that of a man who crossed the 20th century and part of the 21st while remaining true to himself. He never gave in, never betrayed his ideas, never gave up. He led battles, sometimes solitary, sometimes questionable for the Breton that I am, often desperate, but always sincere. He embodied, for his supporters as for his adversaries, a raw strength, an unwavering tenacity, a symbol of an era when politics still had meaning.

Today, while France cries or rejoices, depending on the camp, there remains one certainty: Jean-Marie Le Pen was not a man like the others. He was a fighter, a tribune, a visionary. And if he leaves this world, his legacy remains, like a flickering but still living light in the night of our decadence. Farewell, Mr Le Pen. You have never bowed down. You never surrendered. May your example inspire generations to come.

Julien Dir

So as not to leave it without a touch of humor and insolence, some cult videos. “ I’m going to make you run…”.