Former paratrooper led National Front party for decades and courted controversy, being repeatedly fined for contesting crimes against humanity

Summary

Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of France’s far-right National Rally (formerly National Front), has died.

A former paratrooper, he led the party from 1972 to 2011 and was known for inflammatory rhetoric, including Holocaust denial and praise for the Nazi-collaborating Vichy regime, which led to multiple convictions.

He ran for president five times, shocking France in 2002 by advancing to the runoff against Jacques Chirac.

A divisive figure, he was expelled from the party by his daughter, Marine Le Pen, in 2015 as she sought to moderate its image.

  • @kescusayEnglish
    9•1 day ago

    I don’t know how much comfort this will bring, but rest assured that hate-filled bigoted assholes generally don’t live long. The constant stress of seething about everyone and everything around them makes guys like Le Pen the exception, not the rule.

    The only reason this particular human sphincter lived a long time is because he had access to high-quality medical care.