Banned From Running in the Next Election

They are fucking with something no democratic system should ever fuck with. If people perceive — rightly — that democracy is a farce, & anyone who runs against the order will be arrested, they’ll not only want to tear it down, they’ll seek an honest autocracy over false democracy https://t.co/YVKtAXODoq

— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) March 31, 2025

To be clear, Marine Le Pen is not even accused of personally profiting from anything. The charge is that some of her aides in the European Parliament also worked for the party and not just on parliamentary work. This was a common practice for a long time and several other parties…

— Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry (@pegobry_en) March 31, 2025

… stand accused of doing the same, including Modem (a centrist party whose leader is currently prime minister of France) and LFI (biggest far-left party). The "embezzlement" charge is the idea that if parliamentary aides do non-parliamentary work their salary is being "embezzled"--everyone can make up their mind as to what this means.

Le Pen is almost certain to appeal, and neither the prison sentence nor the fine would be applied until her appeals are exhausted. But her five-year ban from running for office kicks in immediately. Follow our live coverage here: https://t.co/QqpTYroFxf

— Reuters (@Reuters) March 31, 2025

The Right is a threat to democracy, the media says. But it isn’t. It’s winning elections and respecting constituitons. It’s the Left that is undermining democracy. It tried to jail Trump, is about to jail Bolsonaro, and just sentenced Le Pen to prison. This is a five alarm fire. pic.twitter.com/kk9vTliEZi

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) March 31, 2025

And when the Left can’t incarcerate a presidential candidate, it simply prevents them from running, for no good reason, and in flagrant violation of the law, as the totalitarian creeps just did in Romania. pic.twitter.com/b9TPUwMU7J

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) March 31, 2025