Several members of the U.S. media establishment — including so-called conservatives — have been in meltdown on social media after it was announced that French firebrand Marion Maréchal-Le Pen would be speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this week.
American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp was slammed by establishment figures Monday evening after the announcement that Ms. Le Pen would be giving a brief speech at CPAC on Thursday morning.
Schlapp defended the invitation against several media personalities like never-Trumper and senior editor of National Review Jonah Goldberg who accused Ms. Le Pen of being a “statist”.
Goldberg compared Ms. Le Pen to her grandfather and former Front National leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, and her “mom” which is possibly a reference to current FN leader and former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who is actually her aunt.
Others, like the “Reagan Battalion” Twitter account, labelled Ms. Le Pen a “French National Socialist” saying she “supports tax hikes” like far-left Democrats Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
Marion Le Pen is not a conservative, she is a national socialist. A French national socialist.
She supports tax hikes like Bernie Sanders, big government like Elizabeth Warren.
There is NOTHING Conservative about her. @mschlapp
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) February 20, 2018
Ms. Le Pen endorsed the tax plan of her aunt last year during the presidential campaign. That plan sought to lower income taxes by 10 per cent in the first three tax brackets and wanted to reinstate a tax exemption for overtime work that was repealed in 2012.
The group, which has vehemently supported failed presidential candidate Evan McMullin, and now Mitt Romney, also claimed there was “nothing conservative” about Ms. Le Pen, despite her support for the traditional marriage movement “Manif Pour Tous” and her stance on reducing the number of abortions in France.
Josh Billinson, the editor of the Independent Journal Review, which was founded by the former digital director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee Alex Skatell, also associated Ms. Le Pen with Nazis.
https://twitter.com/jbillinson/status/965716605996093443
Billinson evoked a controversial statement from Marine Le Pen last year who claimed that the Vichy government was responsible for the round-up of Jews at Vél ‘d’Hiv in 1942. She added that the Vichy government was not the government of France at the time, citing a 1944 declaration by General Charles de Gaulle who declared the Vichy regime illegal and illegitimate.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.