Jean-Marie Le Pen Backs His Daughter’s Bid in Upcoming French Presidential Election

PARIS (Sputnik) – Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the French National Rally party, has expressed support to the candidacy of his daughter and the incumbent leader of the faction, Marine Le Pen, in the upcoming presidential race, scheduled for April.

"Of course, I support my daughter, who is a candidate from the National Rally. It is quite natural," Le Pen said in an interview with French broadcaster LCI on Sunday.

He also admitted to sympathizing with Eric Zemmour, his daughter’s rival at the upcoming elections.

When asked to comment on the recent refusal of his granddaughter and Marine Le Pen’s niece, Marion Marechal, to back the candidacy of his daughter, the politician expressed regret that the disagreement occurred during the election campaign.

Earlier this month, media reported Marechal’s intention to either support Zemmour during the election, or whoever was a better choice to succeed the outgoing French president, Emmanuel Macron. Le Pen described Marechal’s statement as “brutal, violent, and difficult” for her.

In addition, in January, the head of the delegation of the French right-wing National Unification party in the European Parliament, Jerome Riviere, and Damien Rieu, an assistant for Le Pen’s adviser Philippe Olivier, left her team for Zemmour.

Besides Le Pen and Zemmour, the upcoming presidential run will include a set of other hopefuls, including leader of the France Unbowed party, Jean-Luc Melenchon, Republican candidate Valerie Pecresse, a presidential candidate from Europe Ecology - The Greens, Yannick Jadot, Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel, former Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, among others.

Macron has not yet announced his intention to run for a new presidential term.