The death of the founder of the National Front, on January 7, 2025 at the age of 96, does not mark the end of the movement replenished in the National Rally by his daughter Marine Le Pen. On the contrary, the far right has never seemed so close to power. Against its xenophobic and deadly values, Libé has watched, is watching and will watch.
«Non». Jean-Marie Le Pen is dead and it is this word that naturally imposes itself: this «non» which summarizes the long confrontation between Liberation and the one who for decades embodied the face of the French extreme right. This «non» which appeared hugely on the front page of our newspaper on April 22, 2002, the day after the first qualification of a far-right candidate in the second round of the presidential election, cover of Libé which was brandished by thousands of arms in the great demonstration of the following May 1st which helped to block his road to the Elysée. This front page is a marker in the history of our newspaper. The symbol of our opposition determined to see the extreme right take power in France. The incarnation of a journalistic and civic common thread in favor of values totally opposed to those of the National Front of Jean-Marie Le Pen yesterday, of the National Rally led by his daughter Marine Le Pen today.
This “no” is a standard of our refusal of the justification of torture in Algeria, of the denial of Nazi crimes, of anti-Semitism, of the racism consubstantial with the FN, of its national preference, of anti-queer hatred, of the contemptible “AIDS”, of the rancid vision of a Petainist France, which kneels before the Catholic fundamentalists, of the anti-immigrant obsession which was not yet called out at the time “theory of the great replacement”, this list is not, far from it, exhaustive.
Jean-Marie Le Pen is dead. It is obviously not part of our values to rejoice at the death of a man – despite the harshness of our battles. But as a page turns in the history of the extreme right of this country, should we specify that this event changes nothing in our republican commitments? The far right is more powerful than ever. This observation of course forces us to question how to fight, journalistically, against the National Rally. It also requires us to be more sure than ever of our values, and not to be fooled by the de-demonization enterprise at work since the father was put in the closet by the daughter.
Latest episode of this velvet glove strategy: the electoral success of the RN during the last legislative elections. Entering the National Assembly in force, the party had the power to say stop to the baroque experiment of the Barnier government. His successor François Bayrou could suffer the same fate at any time. A presidential victory, on the agenda of ultra-powerful economic, media and digital empires, has never been more likely. All the more reason not to give up fighting this cultural battle, especially since the ideological base remains in 2024 as nauseating as before, with a few nuances. So, Liberation has, during the last legislative elections, in June 2024, extensively documented the profile of the RN candidates, demonstrating that the links of the formation led by Marine Le Pen with the fascist sphere and very unsavory extremist small groups are far from being broken. Jean-Marie Le Pen is dead. He unfortunately leaves a legacy of a very much alive far right. To whom Liberation will continue, despite headwinds, to say “no”.
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