Newsletter Newsletters Events Events Podcasts Videos Africanews
Loader
Advertisement

Marine Le Pen to launch legal action after father filmed singing with neo-Nazis

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen gestures at the Elysee Palace Monday, Aug. 26, 2024 in Paris.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen gestures at the Elysee Palace Monday, Aug. 26, 2024 in Paris. Copyright  Thomas Padilla/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.
Copyright Thomas Padilla/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.
By Euronews
Published on
Share this article Comments
Share this article Close Button

Jean-Marie Le Pen was serenaded by a group known to have ties to an international far-right organisation.

ADVERTISEMENT

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has defended her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, after videos emerged of him singing along with a neo-Nazi band in his home.

The longtime leader of the Front National, since rebranded by his daughter as the National Rally (RN), the 96-year-old Le Pen has been excused from appearing at an ongoing embezzlement trial involving his daughter and numerous staffers.

However, footage now circulating on social media shows him at his home singing along with members of Match Retour, a far-right rock group. In the clip, one of the band's members can be seen wearing a T-shirt glorifying the Hitler Youth.

Match Retour is known to be affiliated with an international neo-Nazi network known as "Blood and Honour", which emerged from the UK's far-right music scene in the 1980s. Its members call for violent action to ensure the "survival of European races".

The former far-right leader, who horrified France and much of Europe when he made it to the second round of the 2002 presidential election, can be seen happily singing along with the band in the clip.

Marine Le Pen has said she will take legal action against the group and those who allowed them into her father's house, claiming they took advantage of his frailty and alleged dementia.

"Jean-Marie Le Pen is capable of reciting Musset, but may not know what year it is," she said in a statement.

In the video, the group's members sing a Napoleonic song, "Fanchon", and serenade the aged leader with a specially written piece that specifically references notorious homophobic remarks he made in public in 1997.

Go to accessibility shortcuts
Share this article Comments

Read more

French far-right National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen dies aged 96

Judge who sentenced Marine Le Pen under police protection amid online threats

Marine Le Pen barred from running for office with immediate effect in Paris embezzlement trial