‘This will backfire’: Le Pen allies hit out at Paris court’s 2027 election ban verdict

Elon Musk attacks decision along with other figures from the right including Viktor Orban and Geert Wilders

Nationalist and populist figures around the world, from Elon Musk to Viktor Orban, have united in condemnation of a Paris court verdict barring Marine Le Pen from running in the country's 2027 presidential elections.

In a bombshell ruling many believe could boost support for the party, the figurehead of France's far-right National Rally (RN) was sentenced on Monday to four years' imprisonment - half suspended - and banned from running for public office for five years, for embezzlement of European parliament funds.