How Marine Le Pen demonized the French far right

The far right is already standing on the doorstep of power in France.

The party’s historic victory Country Group (RN, for its French acronym) reflected profound changes in voter preferences in the country in the first round of parliamentary elections.

But they also show the stunning success of this strategy “De-demonization” (dédiaboliser, French) is considered to be far-right in the French public’s perception, which has greatly increased its support rate.

The strategy is Marine Le Pen In the past ten years.

Determined to change the indigestible image – often described as racist and anti-Semitic – National Front, The extreme right faction led by his father, Jean-Marie Le PenIt can be said that the 55-year-old deputy’s work is bearing fruit.

In the elections held this Sunday, RN gained about 33% of the votes.

Although the Left Alliance New Popular Front Won 28% of the votes and was elected president Emmanuel MacronEnsemble received nearly 21% support, which is a heavy blow to the incumbent president.

How did Marine Le Pen and her political allies reduce the strong rejection of their corporate groups? Here we tell you.

The National Front was founded in 1972 and is led by Jean-Marie Le Pen It wasn’t until 2011 that his daughter came to power.

During those years, many French people viewed the party as an extra-institutional movement destined to be ostracized by the media and politics.

They link him to Jean-Marie Le Pen, a veteran of France’s last colonial war, who is easily provoked and has been repeatedly condemned for his anti-Semitic remarks.

“I’m not saying the gas chambers didn’t exist. I didn’t see them. I haven’t researched that in particular. But I think it’s a detail in World War II history,” He said in an interview in 1987.

From that time on, the accusation of anti-Semitism became his weakest point and one of the main weapons used by his political opponents, who, in fact, united to form a phenomenon called “anti-Semitism”. Republican Front These include voters, whatever their inclinations, turning to the polls in large numbers to prevent such a figure from coming to power.

They succeeded several times.

All of this led to Jean-Marie Le Pen being expelled from the party he founded in 2015. Estrangement from daughterby which time he was already leading the movement.

Marine Le Pen set out to liberate the far right from the negative perception that prevails in public opinion, and to this end she proposed a new strategy, which she herself called the “de-demonization” of the National Front.

so, He softened the party’s form and polished its voice. Their goal is to be seen as a faction capable of governing.

“Peaceful France” This became her new motto for the 2016 campaign, and she tried to project calm, repeating the phrase, “Don’t be afraid.”

In 2018, he went a step further and renamed the National Front as the “Front National”. Country Groupreminiscent of the faction founded by former French President Charles de Gaulle to resist fascism.

“She wants to draw a line with her father’s past. He wants to clean up their image on issues like the Holocaust or Judaism,” he explained to BBC Mundo. Gaspard Estrada, Political scientist at Sciences Po in Paris.

“Today, this change can be seen in what is happening in the Middle East. Le Pen’s party is trying to show support for the Jewish cause and for those who have been kidnapped by Hamas.”

“It’s clear that there has been a very strong change in the rhetoric of party leaders,” he added.

However, Estrada warned that this is not This means that the National Group abandons its historical positions associated with the far right.

“Some paintings still evoke nostalgia for Jean-Marie Le Pen, which is why many people question the ‘de-demonization’ of the National Front. They say it is a superficial change, not a fundamental one,” he said.

The positions they continue to defend include Anti-immigration – For example, raising the need to deport irregular migrants – and Economic protectionism.

The speech resonated with the victory of Donald Trump in the United States and the growth of the populist right in other European countries.

While Marine Le Pen once defended France’s exit from the European Union in the same vein as Britain’s, her party is now more moderate and resolute. He does not intend to abandon the EU, but to change course.

Another factor contributing to the change in the image of the far right is related to the renewal of its figures and the search for young voters.

It plays a key role in this regard Jordan Badella28, a protégé of Marine and son-in-law of his sister Marie-Caroline Le Pen.

The son of Italian immigrants, Bardella has a thriving career. He grew up in Saint-Denis-sur-Seine, one of the poorest and most downgraded suburbs in northern Paris, and left school to join politics. When Marine Le Pen runs for president in 2022, he succeeds her as party chairman.

After Sunday’s preliminary results were announced, Bardella confirmed that there were two paths for the country: the “worst” – that of the left-wing coalition, which he described as an “existential danger” – and that of his party.

If the National Bloc wins an outright majority next Sunday, the day of the second round of legislative elections, Bardella is expected to become prime minister.

for Rainbow Murray, French political expert and scholar at Queen Mary University of London believes that Bardella’s election is part of the goals that Marine Le Pen has set for herself since she became the leader of the party.

“All of this has been carefully designed to make the game more accessible and less scary. “It’s part of the detoxification process,” He told BBC Mundo.

In this way, the National Group has succeeded in expanding the size of the electorate, as demonstrated in the first round of parliamentary elections held on Sunday.

“Thanks to the decline in rejection rates, the party is now able to address not only the problems of its traditional constituency – the workers or the unemployed – but also the problems of its traditional constituency – the workers or the unemployed. He got votes from the educated, the wealthy, the old and the young.””, explains Gaspard Estrada.

“All this is disincentivizing voters who would otherwise be inclined to vote for the far right but are deterred by social exclusion. This is a fundamental element,” the political scientist added.

But for academic Rainbow Murray, analyzing the success of the far right must take into account the following factors: France’s traditional political parties and the current President Emmanuel Macron, who has been in power for seven years, have been eroded.

“One of the reasons people voted for Le Pen’s party was that no other political faction seemed to work for them. So people thought, if all else fails, then why not try this?” he noted.

One of the keys behind this is economics.

Macroeconomic data for France under the Macron government has not been negative, but it has not been positive either.

he unemploymentFor example, at its lowest level since 2008: and 7.1%According to the European Union. Growth In 2023 and 2024 only 0.7%

One of the biggest concerns of the French is Purchasing PowerAffected by factors such as the epidemic and the war in Ukraine, this figure has dropped to the lowest level in the past 10 years.

Marine Le Pen’s party focused its criticism on Macron’s economic strategy and its impact on the economy. Pockets of most French people.

And against the backdrop of the unexpected announcement of legislative elections, the issue appears to have percolated through among French voters.

It should be remembered that Macron called the legislative elections in response to the overwhelming victory of Le Pen’s party in the European elections, with the aim of regaining control.

“People think the country is going in the wrong direction. There were also disappointing results for the government and, above all, a rejection of the image of Emmanuel Macron, to the point that the candidates allied with him decided not to use his image,” explains Gaspard Estrada.

France, a country accustomed to measuring the power of its unions on the streets through social protests, has experienced several events in recent years that have demonstrated the discontent of its people.

Take, for example, the Yellow Vests movement that broke out in 2018, or the more recent protests against raising the retirement age.

The good results achieved by Le Pen’s party in France also reflect what is happening in other parts of the world.

Let us remember that the extreme right is in power in Italy, Hungary and has formed alliances in other countries such as Croatia or Finland.

Against this backdrop, the normalization of these extreme parties appears to be gaining ground.

“Society has become polarised and radicalised. France is not an island from the perspective of the radicalization of debates caused by the use of social networks, where we see a similar evolution of this type of political radicalization. ”, says political scientist Gaspard Estrada.

For Rainbow Murray, “when people are facing hard times, like the current cost of living crisis, they are more willing to consider the far right. Because they feel the traditional parties have failed and they want to blame someone.”

All in all, the victory of Le Pen’s party must be consolidated next Sunday, July 7, when the composition of the National Assembly will be clearly determined.

If the positive trend of the National Rally candidates continues, Macron will remain president until 2027, and he can A congress dominated by Le Pen’s party

Jordan Bardella is prime minister.

It is a political spectacle the far right has never seen in France, and one that many will be watching closely.

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