FN candidate axed for racism

A FRONT National candidate for next year’s municipal elections has been withdrawn from the election and may be thrown out of the party after she made racist remarks about the justice minister.

Asked for France 2 programme Envoyé spécial why she posted a photo of Christiane Taubira next to a monkey on her Facebook page, Anne-Sophie Leclere said that she “would rather see her on the branches of a tree than see her in the government like that”.

Formerly a candidate for the municipal elections in Rethel, Ardennes, Ms Leclere stated she is not racist and that “a monkey is still an animal and a black person is a human being”, but added: “She turns up off the boat like that... you know, she’s a savage” and that Ms Taubira has the “Devil’s smile”.

The FN states it has called her in front of a disciplinary panel and she may be excluded from the party. Vice president Florian Philippot said her selection for the elections was a “casting error”.

Ms Leclere has since removed the photos from her Facebook page, which she said was “on the advice of friends”.

Photo of Christiane Taubira: Wikimedia Commons/Guillaume Paumier