PRESS REVIEW: Tuesday, July 7 – While Marine Le Pen hopes for an acquittal – or a tad more leniency – over the alleged embezzlement of €4.4 million from the European Parliament, has her party already moved on? In other news, New Zealand and Australia reel after a Chinese missile test in the Pacific Ocean. Finally, the captain of the French national football team responded to the racist tirades of a Paraguayan senator.
Here in France, the verdict in Marine Le Pen's embezzlement trial will sound the starting gun for the 2027 Presidential election campaign. The front page of l'Humanité features Marine Le Pen and her second-in-command, Jordan Bardella, as the nation wonders which one will be on next year's ballot. In the eyes of the Communist newspaper, it's "6 of one, half a dozen of the other", as both are far-right hardliners. For La Croix, though, the verdict "doesn't worry the party anymore" as Bardella has developed his own popularity. Le Figaro have been tracking some key statistics about the two, their respective political histories, and electoral successes. Though her experience dwarfs his, his popularity has now surpassed hers.
