In 2012, both were candidates in the presidential election. She came in third. He came in fourth. Mélenchon also ran against Le Pen for a seat in the Assemblee nationale representing a district in the Pas-de-Calais, a département in the north. Both lost to the Socialist candidate.
Last week, the French courts finally decided on the two legal disputes between Le Pen and Mélenchon from the 2012 elections.
In the local Pas-de-Calais election, Mélenchon accused Le Pen of fabricating and distributing a counterfeit campaign leaflet in his name. The leaflet was made to look like authentic Mélenchon campaign literature, with his image and a quote from a speech he gave:
In the second case, Le Pen accused Mélenchon of libel when he referred to her as a fascist during the 2012 presidential campaign. Le Pen’s party, the Front National has been labeled fascist since it was founded by her father 40 years ago. When she took over the party's leadership in 2011, she began a 'de-demonization' process to clean up its image.
Mélenchon's defense produced a number of examples to show that Le Pen also uses the term 'fascist' to refer to Islamists and others, in political speech. Mélenchon appeared in person to defend the language he used and his intent. Known for his quips and gaffes, his testimony included the kind of memorable quote his supporters love:
A France 24 discussion in English came to life when the participants refused to follow the script and turned the tables. The FN surge was only 4.6% of the total vote.
Retour en images sur la marche d'hier... - #12avril #MaintenantCaSuffit - http://t.co/... — Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) April 13, 2014
Retour en images sur la marche d'hier... - #12avril #MaintenantCaSuffit - http://t.co/...