At the start of May, a massive group of protesters in France held large protests against one of the two presidential candidates Marine Le Pen, or in short the female Donald Trump. Although I would argue that she is even more racist and anti-semitic than Donald, a feat not so easy to accomplish. She took over the "National Front" party from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011. To understand Marine Le Pen, we first must learn about her father. Jean-Marie Le Pen (below, right) started the National Front party in 1972. He has been known to make very controversial statements regarding immigration and anti-Semitism.
For example, Jean-Marie Le Pen has complained multiple times that the french soccer team did have enough white players and did not accurately reflect the dynamics of France. In addition, he also widely complained that the players would not sing the national anthem of France and hence were not french enough to stay in France. In addition to being a bitter and racist individual, Jean-Marie has also been convicted six times for Holocaust denial, which in the french legal system described as constituting "Holocaust denial". In addition to blatant anti-Semitism, he also has been removed from the Europen Parliament following prosecution from a physical assault on a Socialist candidate named Annette Peulvast-Bergeal. Also in 2005 and 2008, he was fined 10,000 euros for “incitement to discrimination, hatred and violence towards a group of people” in reference to Muslims living in France. Lastly just when you think it could not get any worse Jean-Marie was also tried for war crimes (torture) during the Algerian War (1954-1962) at which time Jean-Marie was serving as a lieutenant in the French Army. In 2003 Le Monde, a french newspaper, presented court evidence on the war crimes that had been committed. Sadly these crimes were never punished due to amnesty from the French government in earlier years.
Now that we have traced the parental roots of Marine Le Pen we have a bit more insight on what morals and views she holds. While she claims to be different than her father we all know the apple does fall from the tree. Donald and Ivanka Trump being great examples. If she really did not believe what her father did then why would she want to run on the party platform of racism and hatred that her father started in the first place? The fact is the french people already know what she is and what she stands for. The french masses do not wish to see their country elect a Trump-like candidate and they are fighting furiously to stop it. Sadly these protest turned violent and several police officers were burned by a molotov cocktail thrown by protesters. That being said I can not bring myself to shame the protesters. They are the last line of defense between a radical nationalist taking control of France and we all remember what happened the last time a super anti-semitic leader in Europe got power. While hurting and fighting police will solve nothing I hope they are able to send a message the National Front and other leaders that believe alt-right views. The message that the masses are not going to sit around and watch another group of people is killed, tortured, or treated as a lesser for the color of their skin, or the religion they believe in. To the protesters in France, stop throwing Molotov cocktails and talk to the police in front of you and have them march with you into the national front and peacefully end the debate on what France stands for. While the only other candidate for France is a super wealthy banker which also has its downfalls the contrast on who is worse for France is clear: the racist bigoted Marine Le Pen rivals Steve Bannon in the realm of the radical right.