Le Pen Accused of Plagiarism for Lifting Parts of Fillon Speech

(Bloomberg) -- French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen used chunks of a speech by defeated center-right nominee Francois Fillon, word-for-word, during a rally, in what her campaign said was an attempt to lure the former prime minister's voters.

The plagiarism, which set off a flurry of comments on media and social platforms Tuesday, appears to have first been noticed by Ridicule TV, a pro-Fillon channel broadcast through Facebook and Twitter.

At a rally Monday in Paris, Le Pen went off on an ode to France's geography, and how it links the country to cultures from around the world from “the immense Hispanic and Latin world” to “Italy our sister,” and then boasted about how people from Mexico to Shanghai seek to learn French. But it was quickly pointed out that the passage was identical to a Fillon speech made on April 15 in central France.

Le Pen's campaign manager called it a “wink” to Fillon's supporters.

“There were some interesting elements,” David Rachline said on France 2 television. “I think this little wink was appreciated, including by supporters of Mr. Fillon.”

Fillon took 19.9 percent in the first round and both Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, her rival in May 7 runoff, have sought to win over his disappointed voters.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Paris at gviscusi@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Geraldine Amiel, Vidya Root