In a shocking turn of events, France’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN) has withdrawn support for one of its candidates in an upcoming legislative election due to an anti-Semitic social media message posted in 2018. Candidate Joseph Martin made a disturbing comment in October 2018, stating that “gas did justice to the victims of the Holocaust,” which was later deleted.
Martin, who was set to run for the Assemblée Nationale in Morbihan, Brittany, has been suspended and is facing exclusion from the party. Despite winning 15.35% of the vote in the first round of the 2022 legislative elections, Martin did not advance to the next round.
The RN’s victory in European elections prompted President Emmanuel Macron to call for national polls, with the first round scheduled for June 30. Macron condemned the recent anti-Semitic attack on a 12-year-old Jewish girl in Paris, carried out by two 13-year-old boys. This disturbing incident has heightened tensions ahead of the election.