Was Marine Le Pen crying after losing the French election?

A viral image has been spread online of failed French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen crying after suffering another embarrassing defeat, after the her political party – National Rally or Rassamblement National (RN) – failed to secure a majority in the second round of voting despite leading in the first. The election was won by the left-wing New Popular Front, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Previously known as the National Front, RN made significant gains in last month’s European Union elections, which sparked a gamble from French president Emmanuel Macron in the form of a snap election he hoped would see the electorate block the rise of the far-right in the country.

And dramatically, it worked – although probably not in the way Macron anticipated.

The exit poll projected a win for the New Popular Front (Nouveau Front Populaire), a coalition comprising the far-left France Unbowed and socialist, green and communist parties, with NFP leading with an estimated 182 seats, Macron’s centrist Ensemble in second with 163 seats, and RN dropping to third place with a possible 143 seats.

Although with no party or group clinching the 289 seats required to form a majority, France now faces a hung parliament, with prime minister Gabriel Attal declaring he would tender his resignation to Macron.

RN’s president and leader, Jordan Bardella, has since complained that France had been “thrown to the hands of the far-left” and that Macron has “pushed the country towards uncertainty and instability”.

Le Pen, meanwhile, insisted her party’s victory “has been merely delayed”.

She did not, however, break down in tears at the result, as some memes on Twitter/X have suggested:

In fact, the images and video doing the rounds show Le Pen crying with laughter, as it originates from a 2017 clip when the French politician appeared on the Europe 1 radio station and reacted to impressions from comedian Nicolas Canteloup.

The description of a YouTube video of a moment notes Le Pen “laughed out loud” at the impersonations – especially that of journalist Jean-Jacques Boudin.

Quand Marine Le Pen pleurait de rire devant les imitations de Nicolas Canteloupwww.youtube.com

Sorry to disappoint.

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