Jean-Marie Le Pen, historic leader of the French far right, died Tuesday January 7 at the age of 96 in Garches (Hauts-de-Seine), in an establishment where he had been admitted there several weeks. The founder of the National Front, which became the National Rally, gradually withdrew from political life from 2011, when his daughter Marine Le Pen took over the presidency of the party.
He was a “historical figure of the extreme right” whose “role in the public life of our country for nearly seventy years (…) is now subject to the judgment of History”declared the Élysée in a press release. The President of the Republic “expresses his condolences to his family and loved ones.”
The far right pays tribute to the visionary
Jordan Bardella: “Engaged under the uniform of the French army in Indochina and Algeria, tribune of the people in the National Assembly and the European Parliament, he has always served France, defended its identity and its sovereignty, writes the president of the National Rally on X. Today I think with sadness of his family, his loved ones, and of course Marine whose mourning must be respected.”
Eric Zemmour : “Jean-Marie Le Pen is dead. Beyond the controversies, beyond the scandals, what we will remember about him in the coming decades is that he was among the first to alert France of the existential threats that were watching for her, retains the president of Reconquest. It will remain the vision of a man, and his courage, at a time when courageous men were not so numerous”he greets on X.
Thomas Ménage: “Ward of the Nation, soldier, deputy, Jean-Marie Le Pen has left us. A precursor of the national movement, he denounced before anyone else the path France was taking and announced the difficulties it faces today, underlines on X the National Rally deputy and spokesperson for the RN group in the National Assembly. We measure what we owe him. All my thoughts and affection for his daughters, particularly for Marine Le Pen and all those close to him.”
The right and the center evoke a “figure of political life”
François Bayrou: “Beyond the controversies which were his favorite weapon and the necessary confrontations on the merits, JM Le Pen will have been a figure of French political life, underlines the centrist Prime Minister on X. We knew, when we fought him, what a fighter he was.”
Bruno Retailleau : “Today, a page in French political history is turning, writes the Minister of the Interior. Whatever opinion one may have of Jean Marie Le Pen, he will undoubtedly have left his mark on his era. I send all my condolences to Marine Le Pen and her loved ones.
Eric Ciotti: “With Jean-Marie Le Pen a part of the political history of the Fifth Republic is extinguished,” reacts the president of the Union of Democrats for the Republic, in a press release. “He was a politician with a career punctuated by gray areas, but also courage, powerful intuitions and sincere patriotism”continues the former LR MP, ally of the RN on the benches of the Assembly. “Although his political fight was lastingly tainted by his excesses and his excesses, he was a pioneering whistleblower on mass immigration and its ravages”. Eric Ciotti “calls on the political class not to sink into excess towards their family which has the right, like every French family, to a period of mourning with respect for their dignity and their privacy. Jean-Marie Le Pen was deeply French. He passionately loved France and served it, including under the flag. recalls the deputy for Alpes-Maritimes.
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan: “Jean Marie Le Pen is dead. A monument of French political life disappears, comments the president of Debout la France and former MP. Beyond the controversies, he marked his time by the strength and constancy of his national convictions. Affectionate thoughts to his daughters and all those who loved himand.”
On the left, the fight against its ideas takes precedence
Ian Brossat : The communist deputy from Paris reacted in two sentences on X: “What remains are his nauseating ideas. Let’s fight them, tirelessly.”
Jean-Luc Mélenchon: “Respect for the dignity of the dead and the grief of their loved ones does not erase the right to judge their actions. Those of Jean-Marie Le Pen remain unbearable, writes the rebellious leader on X. The fight against man is over. The one against the hatred, racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism that he spread continues.”
François Ruffin : “THE friends of Vichy and torture in Algeria. The FN founded with Waffen SS, the ‘Durafour crematorium’ and the ‘details of history’. A fascist from another time has gone, wrote on X the deputy. But leaves behind very current heirs. Who, today, honor the ‘tribune’ and the ‘servant of France’. Jean-Marie Le Pen is dead, his racist ideas remain to be fought.”
Louis Boyard: “Jean-Marie Le Pen is dead. He deserves no tribute. All his life he spat on exiles, women, Muslim, Jewish, LGBT people. Our thoughts must go to the people he hated. Let’s continue the fight so that his ideology follows him to his grave.
