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Holocaust Denial Continues To Haunt Le Pen's Presidential Bid

French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen's chosen successor to lead the National Front party has resigned after accusations of Holocaust denial.
Posted at 5:19 PM, Apr 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-28 17:19:16-04

Marine Le Pen's bid to become France's next president is caught up in accusations of Holocaust denial — again.

Le Pen has made it to the final round of France's presidential race. To attract more votes and distance herself from the image of the far-right National Front party, she recently stepped aside as its leader.

That grand gesture was somewhat undercut when reports accused Le Pen's chosen successor, Jean-François Jalkh, of praising Holocaust denial research during an interview in 2000.

Anti-Semitism has been a tough subject for Le Pen in the past. She was recently accused of downplaying French collaboration in the Nazis' mass roundup of Jews in Paris.

Her father, National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, has been fined for his own comments on the Holocaust.

Marine Le Pen will face the more centrist Emmanuel Macron at the ballot box May 7. Le Pen is currently behind in the polls but could benefit from anemic turnout on Macron's side.