Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died this Tuesday, January 7 at the age of 96, leaves behind a divisive political legacy. Founder of the National Front in 1972, he was for decades one of the most controversial faces on the French political scene. His comments on immigration, Islam, or his controversial statements on the Shoah, described as a “detail” of History in 1987, have sparked numerous controversies over the decades. For his detractors, he was a vector for the trivialization of far-right ideas. For his supporters, a visionary who defended French sovereignty and identity in the face of globalization.
As might be expected, the death of the founder of the National Front sparked many reactions in the French political class. This is particularly the case of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The founder of La France Insoumise made a publication on the social network X, less than an hour after the news was announced. “Respect for the dignity of the dead and the grief of their loved ones does not erase the right to judge their actions”he writes. “Those of Jean-Marie Le Pen remain unbearable. The fight against man is over. The one against the hatred, racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism that he spread continues. »
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The young LFI generation does not take gloves
Another LFI generation, another tone. “ Jean-Marie Le Pen is dead. No, he was not ‘a great servant of France’. He was nostalgic for collaboration, responsible for torture, a racist and an anti-Semite. He was an enemy of the Republic. The dripping tributes from his heirs today remind us that his ideas remain and that the anti-fascist struggle remains burning today », writes on X Manuel Bompard.
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« Torture in Algeria. The Hitler Youth knife forgotten there. The founding of a party with the Waffen SS and those nostalgic for Vichy. Convictions for racism and anti-Semitism. You celebrate him: you are the same danger as him », writes on X the LFI deputy Antoine Léaument.
« Jean-Marie Le Pen is dead. He deserves no tribute. All his life, he spat on exiles, women, Muslim, Jewish and LGBT people. Our thoughts should be with the people he hated. Let’s continue the fight so that his ideology follows him to his grave », declares Louis Boyard on X.
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