Marine Le Pen 'wants to talk politics', but can she drown out the legal noise?

Marine Le Pen says she wants to talk politics while legal fallout continues to shape her 2027 French presidential campaign. The 57-year-old leader of the far-right National Rally (RN) launched her bid during a market walkabout in western France on Wednesday, despite an appeal court the previous day upholding her conviction for embezzlement of European Parliament funds. Her opponents compared her approach to Donald Trump, citing her downplaying of legal investigations and her use of legal challenges. On Tuesday, appeal judges also found she played a central role in orchestrating a fake jobs scheme of unprecedented size and duration, but they shortened her original ban from running for office, creating a window for a fourth presidential attempt. A custodial one-year sentence with an electronic tag, intended to restrict her movements, was put on hold after she filed an appeal with the highest court. The article notes uncertainty around the April and May two-round vote.