Very weakened for several months, the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen, at the age of 96, this Tuesday, January 7, was a surprise to no one. Ironically, it was on the day of the 10th anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attacks that the founder of the National Front passed away. In January 2015, the “Menhir” openly declared “not to be Charlie”, describing the weekly as an “extreme left” newspaper.
Numerous controversies and convictions for racist, anti-Semitic or homophobic remarks will have punctuated his political career which bears no comparison in terms of longevity. Elected French deputy for the first time in 1956 under the Fourth Republic, he participated in five presidential elections and reached the second round once.
“Founder of the National Front in 1972, he had raised, in adversity and opprobrium, this small patriotic party without means or future, to the rank of political formations which count and, it is indisputable, left no one indifferent”, greeted the National Rally in a press release.
On has always served France, defended its identity and its sovereignty.”
It was only in 2014 that two FN elected officials entered the Senate, David Rachline and Stéphane Ravier. “I am a faithful one. I am a senator today (…) it is thanks to Jean-Marie Le Pen. It was he, at the start, who convinced me at 35 to leave my house to put up posters, distribute leaflets to convey the national message, to alert the French to the dangers of immigration policy. , testified on BFMTV, Stéphane Ravier.
“I remember him as an adorable man”
“We would not be here without him,” confirms RN senator from Pas de Calais, Christopher Szczurek, elected in 2023 like two other RN elected officials, Joshua Hochart (North) and Aymeric Durox (Seine-et-Marne).
Rather than the excesses that RN senators do not wish to return to when questioned, Christopher Szczurek prefers to highlight “the political legacy of a visionary who brought to the forefront three contemporary dangers: immigration, Islamism and insecurity”. The elected official from Pas-de-Calais joined the National Front in 2007 and filmed Jean-Marie Le Pen’s famous “log diary” for two years. “I keep the memory of an adorable man who, even after the breakup with Marine, always congratulated us on our electoral victories.”
On “Jean-Marie Le Pen is no more, but his predictions about the future of our country will always live on. It’s up to us to fight so that they never happen.”
“The observations he made at the time have become a reality for everyone today”
The term “visionary” also returns in the tribute by Joshua Hochart who salutes “a major political figure of the Fifth Republic”. “A tireless defender of the identity and sovereignty of France, he knew how to embody the courage and bring the hope of millions of French people. His journey and his vision will go down in history,” he believes. Joining the National Rally in 2018, Joshua Hochart confides “having a lot of respect for the activists who put up posters when the party made 2%. The observations he made at the time have become a reality for everyone today.”
