Marechal-Le Pen urges 'France first' at US rally

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French far-right figure Marion Marechal-Le Pen gave a high-profile speech to US conservatives on Thursday amid talk she could challenge her aunt Marine Le Pen for the leadership of the Front National (FN) party.

Addressing a conference in Maryland that also featured President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence as speakers, the 28-year-old former MP said France should follow Trump’s example and put “France first.”

"I'm not offended when I hear President Donald Trump say 'America first'. In fact, I want America first for the American people, I want Britain first for the British people and I want France first for the French people," she said.

Marechal-Le Pen is the niece of FN leader Marine Le Pen but temporarily withdrew from politics after her aunt's presidential election defeat last May.

Front National party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen (R) embraces his daughter and FN leader Marine Le Pen at a rally in Paris in this May 1, 2013 file photo. /VCG Photo

Thursday’s speech was her first public appearance in months. She did not say if or when she was planning to return to an active role in French politics but the fact that she was a keynote speaker at Thursday's conference was widely commented on in French media as posing a challenge to her aunt.

The granddaughter of FN founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marechal-Le Pen has long been viewed in France as a possible future leader of the party.

More socially conservative and economically liberal than her aunt, she is known for her hardline stance on immigration, Islam and abortion, and commands a loyal grassroots following.

Speaking to thousands of activists from the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, Marechal-Le Pen, who has been praised by right-wing U.S. media such as Breitbart, said her nation's far-right movement was "standing side by side" with the supporters and nationalist policies of President Trump.

"Just like you, we want our country back.”

"Let us build on what you have achieved here, so that on both sides of the Atlantic, a conservative agenda may prevail."

While Le Pen has over the past months softened her anti-EU, anti-euro comments, Marechal-Le Pen lambasted the bloc, which she said was "slowly killing" ancient nations.

"This is not the France that our grandparents fought for," she said.

Marine Le Pen is hoping that a National Front congress mid-March will help her reassert her authority.

But in the complicated Le Pen family, whose rows have made French headlines for years, another possible problem for her is her father, who she expelled from the party but who said he would gate-crash the congress.

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters