Jordan Bardella declares ‘total loyalty’ to Le Pen after court finds her and RN officials guilty of embezzlement

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The president of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party has described a court’s decision to ban Marine Le Pen from public office for five years, wrecking her hopes of becoming president in 2027, as “disproportionate, political and partisan”.

Jordan Bardella said the punishment for Le Pen’s conviction for embezzling European Parliament funds would deprive millions of French voters of their democratic right to put her in the Elysée Palace.