French conservative politician Marine Le Pen was found guilty of embezzlement on Monday. Her sentence bars her from running in France’s 2027 election.

Le Pen was accused of using funds intended for European Union aides to pay her political staffers. She has denied any wrongdoing.

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In addition to a five-year ban on running for office, Le Pen received a four-year prison sentence and a 100,000 euro fine. Half of her prison sentence has been suspended. Le Pen can avoid prison during an appeals process, but can’t be reinstated as an eligible candidate unless the decision is overturned.

Le Pen was the runner-up in the last two presidential elections against French President Emmanuel Macron. She has led most opinion polling since 2023 and appeared poised to succeed the term-limited Macron for the presidency.

It appears that Le Pen is a victim of the same type of political lawfare that Democrats targeted President Donald Trump with leading up to the 2024 election. In addition to court rulings that enabled opponents to label Trump as a “convicted felon,” Colorado removed Trump from the presidential ballot, citing the “Insurrection Clause” of the 14th Amendment. A unanimous Supreme Court decision reinstated Trump to the ballot.

During Colorado’s political maneuvers, even Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) attacked the attempts to keep Trump off the ballot.

“In California, we defeat candidates at the polls,” he said. “Everything else is a political distraction.”

Le Pen’s National Rally party has rapidly gained popularity, garnering the most votes of any individual party in the 2024 legislative elections. Due to the left-wing parties forming a coalition, the National Rally party was unable to gain a majority. The move to block Le Pen from running shows how afraid the French left wing is of her electoral chances.

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In Le Pen’s absence, conservatives will likely turn to Jordan Bardella, who took over as National Rally president in 2022. While Bardella shares many of Le Pen’s political views, his opposition will likely try to cast him as too young and inexperienced to lead. Bardella may also face a party fracture in Le Pen’s absence.

Le Pen will likely appeal the decision and the ruling may or may not be overturned. Like Trump, has been politically targeted as a means of damaging her chances of running for office. The so-called defenders of democracy have again sought to limit voters’ choices at the polls.