Der Tag der Abrechnung für Marine Le Pen ist da. Es könnte die extreme Rechte Europas umgestalten

The squeeze on Le Pen here is wild. If she actually gets barred from running, that’s not just a French problem, it sends a message to every populist movement in Europe that the legal system can come for you.

Gut feeling is this is the most consequential political trial in France in decades, way bigger than whatever Sarkozy went through. The Rassemblement National has spent years trying to rebrand and soften the edges, and now the old guard corruption stuff is catching up right when they’re closest to power.

I reckon other parties on the right will try to profit from the sympathy vote though, which is the frustrating part. Her supporters will see martyrdom where the courts see accountability, and that gap is what makes this so messy for French democracy going forward.