Louvre threatens to sue Marine Le Pen

The presidential candidate said her campaign video was in line with the museum’s official rules

The Louvre Museum in Paris has hit out at right-wing presidential candidate Marine Le Pen after she claimed the landmark ‘as her own’ in a campaign video. The museum has asked her to remove the advertisement.

On Sunday, the Louvre said that Marine Le Pen, the National Rally party leader, did not have permission to film her presidential campaign video in front of its infamous glass pyramid, which sits at the heart of the building’s courtyard. 

In the video, filmed on January 11, Le Pen claimed the Paris landmark “as her own,” the museum said. In the three-and-a-half minute ad, Le Pen attacks incumbent President Emmanuel Macron for his “interlude of a Macronism that’s been toxic for the country and that began here.” Macron had made his victory speech after the 2017 election from the Louvre pyramid. 

Philippe Olivier, one of Le Pen’s campaign advisors, told the New York Times that the campaign video was made to show that “Macron is the opponent” and “that’s what the symbolic act of being at the Louvre is about.”

Affaissement du pays, déclassement des Français : c’est au Louvre qu’a commencé le quinquennat d’Emmanuel Macron.

?? Pour renouer avec un destin collectif et un grand projet national, n’attendez pas l’élection présidentielle : faites-la !

Retrouvez ma déclaration du Louvre ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/jmWJY2qCZh

— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) January 15, 2022

“We belong to the entire French population,” a museum spokesperson told Le Parisien, adding that “in her video clip, Le Pen claims the Louvre as her own.” 

The museum said they did not want to be part of tit-for-tat politics.

Le Pen’s campaign team said their video was in line with the museum’s official rules, which says permission is not needed when the filming isn’t for commercial purposes. The video remains online. 

READ MORE: Presidential hopeful fined for inciting hatred

The Louvre added that they were “considering what action may be taken regarding the conditions under which the video was filmed and broadcast.” 

While Macron is yet to announce his candidacy for the election in April, he remains the favorite. Le Pen faces stiff competition from other right-wing candidates who may pip her to second place in the first round of the election, thereby preventing her from reaching the run-off.