French President also highlighted: ‘He played a role in the public life of our country for almost seventy years’; far-right leader passed away this Tuesday (7) at the age of 96
The French president, , highlighted the “role” that the far-right leader, aged 96, played in the political life of France and “which is now up to History to judge”. “Historic figure of the far right, he played a role in the public life of our country for almost seventy years, which is now up to History to judge,” Macron said in a statement, in which he offered his condolences to the family. The founder of the National Front (FN) in 1972, known for his xenophobic and anti-Semitic comments, was a historic figure of the French far right, becoming France’s youngest legislator at 27 years of age.
“Menhir’s” greatest political success, however, came in 2002, at the age of 73, when he reached the polls in the French presidential election, which he lost to the conservative Jacques Chirac after a massive mobilization against him. After five attempts, he handed the reins of the party in 2011 to his daughter Marine Le Pen, who renamed it in 2018 as National Regroupment (RN) and worked to moderate the party’s image.
*With information from AFP
Published by Matheus Lopes
