A friend of the French far-right politician explains that Le Pen felt “deep exhaustion, perhaps of the heart”.
Jean Marie Le Pen, the founder of the Nationalist Front National Party and the father of Marine Le Pen, was admitted to a hospital in the Paris region on Saturday, according to the French newspaper Le Point. The same publication says Le Pen, 94, is in serious trouble but “knows it”.
A friend of the French right-wing politician explains that Le Pen felt “extreme exhaustion, probably of a cardiac nature, which justified the urgent hospitalization of her doctors”.
A five-time presidential candidate and out of political office since the end of his European mandate in 2019, Jean-Marie continues to be a frequent commentator on French politics.
Remember that, last year, Le Pen was hospitalized after suffering a stroke.
Le Pen began her political career in the 1950s as a member of the French Socialist Party. He later left the party in 1972 to found the Front National, now known as Rassemblement National. Jean-Marie Le Pen gained national popularity in 1984, when he ran for the presidency of France and won about 11% of the vote in the first election.
Le Pen was elected to the European Parliament in 1984 and was re-elected consecutively until 2014. During this time, she became known for her controversial statements on immigration, racism and the Holocaust, being at the center of many controversies.
In 2002, Le Pen was surprised to reach the second round of the French presidential election, losing to Jacques Chirac. Following the defeat, Le Pen retired from leading the Front National, to be succeeded by her daughter Marine Le Pen in 2011.