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By Gabriel Stargardter and Kanishka Singh
PARIS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump, his Vice President JD Vance and billionaire backer Elon Musk have all voiced their support to French far-right leader Marine Le Pen after she was found guilty of embezzlement and barred from running in France's 2027 presidential election.
Trump, who often labelled his own legal woes as a leftist witch-hunt, drew parallels with Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally (RN) party, who was widely seen as a plausible presidential winner.
She was convicted on Monday of misappropriating European Union funds by using the money to pay party officials. She received a four-year prison sentence - two of which are suspended and two to be served under home detention - and a 100,000-euro ($108,200) fine.
She also received an immediate five-year ban on running for office that will prevent her from the 2027 presidential election unless the ruling is overturned next year.
"The Witch Hunt against Marine Le Pen is another example of European Leftists using Lawfare to silence Free Speech, and censor their Political Opponent," Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform. "It is the same 'playbook' that was used against me."
Trump was indicted for covering up a hush money payment to a porn star, for attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election that he lost, and for retaining classified documents after his first term ended. He was convicted in the hush money case. He denied wrongdoing in all cases and has called them politically motivated.
Federal charges against him were dropped following his 2024 election win.
JD Vance, who has accused European nations of democratic abuses by seeking to block far-right parties from office, also weighed in to support Le Pen.
"The Europeans, they are absolutely 100% our friends. But that relationship ... it's going to get stressed and it's going to get tested if they keep on trying to throw opposition leaders in jail," he told Newsmax on Thursday.
And Elon Musk, who has lent his support to far-right figures across Europe, reposted Trump's message on his own X social media platform, writing: "Free Le Pen!"
The expressions of support for Le Pen by Washington's three most powerful figures underline a growing divergence between the United States and other nations - including many in Europe - over how judges adjudicate thorny constitutional questions or wrongdoing by politicians.
Le Pen has accused France's judiciary of sparking a democratic crisis by barring her from the 2027 election and called for a mass protest in Paris on Sunday, although there are signs her attacks on judges are playing badly with voters.
Having previously said she backed lifetime ineligibility for politicians convicted of misappropriation of public funds, she said in an interview with Le Parisien newspaper on Wednesday that the charges against her were different.
"Misappropriation of public funds has always been: I take public money and I put it in my pocket. That's inexcusable. That was not the case in the affair that concerns us," she said.
It remains to be seen if Trump and his allies' support will help or hinder Le Pen.
"I'm not sure it helps," Manuel Valls, France's minister for overseas territories, said on franceinfo. "It shows there's an international far-right movement that seeks to influence the debate. Hands off French justice, Mr. Trump!"
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Makini Brice and Hugh Lawson)
