JERUSALEM — The unexpected court ruling against well-known right-wing leader Marine Le Pen on Monday, charging her with embezzlement, ignited a strong response from Elon Musk, head of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. Musk drew parallels between her situation and Trump’s ongoing legal challenges.

Following the judgment, Musk remarked, “This will backfire, much like the legal challenges against President Trump.” He attributed Le Pen’s conviction to the actions of the left. He stated on X, “When the radical left is unable to win through electoral means, they manipulate the legal system to imprison their adversaries. This is a common tactic they employ globally.”

Le Pen’s conviction, which disqualifies her from seeking office for a period of five years, takes place in the context of legal actions against other right-wing leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Romania’s Călin Georgescu, and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

President Donald Trump, right, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak during a news conference in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Alex Brandon/AP)

The heart of the embezzlement case revolves around accusations against Le Pen and more than 20 other National Rally figures who allegedly used EU funds to hire employees to work for the National Rally instead of matters involving the European Parliament as required by EU regulations in Brussels.

The French court also imposed a four-year prison sentence on Le Pen. The conviction unleashed a political earthquake in France, where the next presidential election is slated for 2027.

Right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an ally of Trump, posted in French on social media a solidarity message, “Je suis Marine!” (“I am Marine”), an apparent reference to the slogan “Je suis Charlie” that was formulated after radical Islamist terrorists murdered journalists in 2015 from the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris.

Le Pen has transformed the anti-immigration party National Rally (formerly called the National Front) into a serious political force that is a legitimate contender to win the 2027 presidential election.

Marine Le Pen, president of the National Rally group in the National Assembly, joins Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally (Rassemblement National), at the final rally before the recently held European Parliament election on June 9. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

She ousted her father, the late Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the National Front, and rejected his antisemitism. He was fined for terming the Holocaust gas chambers a “detail of history”.

Marine Le Pen’s protégé, the 29-year-old Jordan Bardella, recently spoke last week at an Israeli government conference on combating antisemitism. He is expected to take over the National Rally. He urged a “peaceful mobilization” to protest the verdict. 

According to French24, Bardella said the guilty verdict has “killed” French democracy. His party launched a petition that states:”It is no longer the government of judges, but the dictatorship of judges, which wishes to prevent the French people from expressing themselves.”

Le Pen’s lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, announced that he would appeal the verdict. 

Leader of Italy’s right-wing League Party Matteo Salvini reacts as he leaves a court after a hearing in the trial against him on charges of kidnapping over his decision to prevent more than 100 migrants from landing in the country in 2019, in Palermo, Italy, on Oct. 23, 2021. (REUTERS/Antonio Parrinello)

“I am shocked by the incredibly tough verdict against Marine Le Pen,” said Holland’s right-wing politician, Geert Wilders, who has been dubbed the Dutch version of Trump. 

He added,”I support and believe in her 100% and I trust she will win the appeal and become President of France.”

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.