U.S. presidential adviser Elon Musk lambasted the French court verdict that blocked Marine Le Pen from a 2027 presidential run after the far-right figurehead was found guilty of embezzlement.
“When the radical left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents,” Musk said Monday. “This is their standard playbook throughout the world.”
Musk, a tech billionaire turned close aide to U.S. President Donald Trump, has backed far-right causes across Europe in recent months, while the White House has become increasingly critical of democracy in Europe.
“This will backfire, like the legal attacks against President Trump,” Musk said in another post.
Vice President JD Vance delivering a withering speech in Munich in February in which he attacked European governments for their approach to a series of hot-button cultural issues.
Both Vance and Musk — plus a hard-line online MAGA contingent — have already identified Romanian ultranationalist Călin Georgescu as one cause célèbre victim of so-called lawfare after a top national court blocked him from running in the presidential election following allegations that his 2024 campaign was boosted by a Russian influence operation.
France now risks becoming new prey for the American right wing, after a stunning court decision torpedoed the surging Le Pen’s bid to win the French presidency in 2027.
Le Pen and 24 other codefendants were accused of illicitly siphoning European Parliament funds to pay for party employees who seldom or never dealt with affairs in Brussels or Strasbourg. The court estimated that the accused had over 12 years embezzled more than €4 million, €474,000 of which Le Pen was held personally responsible for as an MEP.
The U.S. president’s son Donald Trump Jr., an influential voice in online right-wing circles, also waded in. “France is sending le Pen to jail and barring her from running?! Are they just trying to prove JD Vance was right about everything?” he asked on social media.
Le Pen was fined €100,000 and sentenced to four years in prison, two of which were suspended and two of which would be served under house arrest. But those penalties will be delayed by an appeal, which Le Pen’s lawyer confirmed would be filed.
The European right-wing also united in outrage — from the Netherlands to Spain to Hungary to Italy — over the verdict, with British anti-migration champion Nigel Farage describing it as what “looks to me like a very trumped-up charge.”
Gollnisch, a former member of the European Parliament for the French far-right National Rally (RN), was found guilty on Monday alongside former RN President Marine Le Pen of embezzling funds from the EU institution. He was sentenced to three years in prison — two of them suspended — fined €50,000, and barred from running for public office for the next five years.
When asked about the charges during an interview with Times Radio following the verdict, Gollnisch said: “Jesus Christ also was found guilty and he was innocent.” “I do not compare Marine Le Pen with Jesus Christ but she is innocent and so am I,” Gollnisch said.
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