#Marine Le Pen

#Marine Le Pen

Dozens of messages contained in the latest tranche of Epstein files lay bare the attempts by Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon to tap Jeffrey Epstein for support and funding to bolster European far-right parties. The messages mostly date to 2018 and 2019, when Bannon, after being sacked by Trump, regularly visited Europe in his quest to forge a movement in the European parliament uniting ultra-rightwing and Eurosceptic forces from several countries including Italy, Germany, France, Hungary, Poland, Sweden and Austria.

Sarkozy's comments in The Diary of a Prisoner come as Le Pen's party appeals to traditional right voters in an attempt to broaden its base ahead of the 2027 presidential race. The comments were in stark contrast to Sarkozy's stance against the far right when he won the presidency in 2007, and his call in 2022 for voters to back the centrist Emmanuel Macron against Le Pen in the interests of France at the last presidential election.

The fresh face of pro-EU liberalism swept to power the following year on a promise of radical change to bring France into the 21st century. Eight years on, with France engulfed by political crisis and with no obvious way to break the gridlock, Macron's lofty ambitions have aged poorly. Francois Bayrou, who entered politics before the president was born, has become the third prime minister to resign in the space of a year.