Jean-Marie Le Pen, French far-right leader, dies at 96

PARIS (AP) — Jean-Marie Le Pen, co-founder of France’s far-right National Front, has died at 96, Sebastien Chenu, a senior party official, said Tuesday.

A polarizing figure in French politics, Le Pen was known for his fiery rhetoric against immigration and multiculturalism that earned him both staunch supporters and widespread condemnation. His controversial statements, including Holocaust denial, led to multiple convictions and strained his political alliances.

Le Pen, who once reached the second round of the 2002 presidential election, was eventually estranged from his daughter, Marine Le Pen. In 2011, she rebranded the party to shed its “demonized” image and expand its electoral appeal, culminating in her own presidential successes. It is now called the National Rally.

Despite his exclusion from the party in 2015, Le Pen’s divisive legacy endures, marking decades of French political history and shaping the trajectory of the far-right.