A video has gone viral on X allegedly showing Marine Le Pen greeting scores of fans in Paris following a court ruling that banned her from running for public office for five years.
In the video, we can see the far-right National Rally leader greeting and taking pictures with fans.
The caption shared with the video reads: “The French people love Marine Le Pen and demand that her “Guilty” Verdict is immediately overturned!”
This is a reference to her conviction at the end of March for embezzling EU funds.
As well as receiving a €100,000 fine and a suspended prison sentence (two years suspended and the other two served with an electronic bracelet), Le Pen was banned from running for public office and handed what’s known as an “ineligibility sentence”.
The ban has immediately come into force despite her appeal against the verdict, which has put on hold the suspended prison sentence and fine.
The video, however, has been miscaptioned — a reverse image search of a still from the clip shows us that while it does indeed show Le Pen being greeted by adoring fans, it actually dates back to April 2022, just before the first round of the French presidential election that year.
So it’s misleading to suggest that this video shows crowds of people taking to the streets to support Le Pen following her conviction in 2025. However, it’s also important to note that many did come out in support of Le Pen following the court decision.
The account that shared the miscaptioned video also more recently shared a similar video of Le Pen greeting fans in Paris.
This one says that she was “swarmed” by supporters after giving a speech at a rally.
It matches another video shared by Le Pen’s official social media accounts on the same day — 6 April, nearly a week after her conviction — lending credibility to its authenticity.
As things stand, Le Pen is prohibited from running in the 2027 French presidential ballot following her guilty verdict, which also saw other members of the National Rally convicted.
However, a Paris appeals court has said it will make a ruling by summer 2026, which could see her acquitted or her sentence modified and therefore restore her hopes of becoming France’s next president.
If the appeals court rules in her favour, the retrial would take place in 2026 and could end a few months before the 2027 vote — giving her enough time to enter the race if she’s cleared of wrongdoing and the ban lifted.
Experts have previously told EuroVerify that Le Pen’s immediate public office ban is rare in France.
