In 1987, a squinting, lipless, blond-haired politician named Jean Marie Le Pen was asked on a French radio show whether he believed that 6 million Jews had been murdered in the Nazi gas chambers. His response was a study in uncertainty. He started out pondering the question, as if he’d just been asked for his view on the existence of UFOs, spent several seconds scrounging for the right words, then landed on a formula that seemed to satisfy him: The deaths of 6 million Jews during World War II, he declared, were a “point de détail” — a minor detail, a technicality — in the larger history of the war, as well as a subject for debate among historians.
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As the years went by, though, Marine learned how to avoid polémiques — minor scandals — that dredged up the association with Jean-Marie. She took aim at abstract concepts, like fundamentalist Islam, rather than groups of people. (There are exceptions, but most examples date back to the mid-2000s). During her three bids for the presidency, the moment that caused Le Pen the greatest political embarrassment was her inability to defend a plan to leave the eurozone during a debate with Emmanuel Macron, not anything regarding the hot-button culture war issues that marked her father’s tenure as the country’s top political pariah. Over time, the stain of her link to the elder Le Pen — and the potency of the point de détail meme — faded as new voters entered the frame who had no personal experience of the ogre from Les Guignols. The younger Le Pen has become something that her 95-year-old father never was: Somewhat established, and a bit boring.
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But for many French people and not a few foreigners watching from abroad, the question remains: How “normal” is Le Pen and her National Rally party really? Is it, at its core, a far-right organization that will unleash hell on minority groups in France, in addition to blowing up France’s ties with the EU and NATO, if it achieves power? Or is it a right-wing populist movement along the lines of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government, whose bark is far worse than its bite?
Fascists belong on lamp posts whether it’s France, Italy, or Sweden.