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On Tuesday, a Paris appeals court will rule on whether Marine Le Pen is eligible to run in the 2027 presidential election.
Ahead of the verdict, the National Rally (RN) figurehead and the party’s young president, Jordan Bardella, pledged to work as a duo, whatever happens.
“Here’s a little message for those who think that putting obstacles in our way is enough to discourage us. We will never be discouraged,” Le Pen said.
If the courts were to prevent her from standing in the presidential election, Le promised to support her protégé Bardella “every day,” “with great energy,” and “with great conviction and great confidence”.
“I want to reaffirm my full support, my complete friendship, and remind her that I committed myself to her in politics,” Bardella said for his part, speaking during a “country banquet” organised by the party in Liévin in northern France.
The young RN president added that he hopes “to see her elected president of the Republic in a few months’ time”.
France’s National Rally had expected at least 1,200 activists would attend its country feast, though a number of seats remained empty.
Le Pen and Bardella used the event to quash rumours of dissent within the party, where some suspect differences between the two leaders.
While the party’s policy and agenda were not at the heart of their speeches, Le Pen and Bardella still took aim at their opponents in the race for the Élysée.
The RN duo accused Jean-Luc Mélenchon of promoting a “racialist policy” and branded Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe, the two former prime ministers, as “mini-Macrons”.
In March 2025, a Paris court ruled that Le Pen was at the heart of “a fraudulent system” that her party used to siphon off European Parliament funds worth €2.9 million.
If the appeals court upholds that bombshell ruling, the three-time presidential candidate would be banned from running in 2027, widely seen as her best chance at the top job.
Le Pen made it to the second round in the 2017 and 2022 presidential polls, losing to President Emmanuel Macron both times.
But he cannot run again next year after hitting the limit of two consecutive terms in office.