France: Le Pen Senior says Charlie Hebdo is "anarchist and Trotskyist"

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France’s ultra-right, said Saturday that he does not like the slogan "Je suis Charlie" now being used by millions of people to express sympathy with Charlie Hebdo magazine. The father of the current boss of the anti-immigrant Front National (FN) party said that while he regrets the victims of the fatal attack on the editorial offices of the satirical weekly, he must criticize the works of its caricaturists.  

"Today everything is l ‘we’re all Charlie, I am Charlie.’ Well I’m sorry, but I’m not Charlie," Le Pen says in a video published online.

Le Pen said he believes the magazine is of an "anarchist-Trotskyist spirit" and contributes to the destruction of political morale; four of its leading caricaturists and its editor-in-chief were murdered last Wednesday by two Islamists. Le Pen said the FN had previously unsuccessfully demanded the closure of the weekly and considers it the enemy.

Charlie Hebdo is a left-wing satirical magazine considered a thorn in the side of Islamists because it caricatured the Prophet Mohammed; it is infamous for its implacability when it came to lampooning politicians’ behavior. FN leaders have found themselves caricatured on its pages more than once.  

FN party boss Marine Le Pen is infamous for her harsh rhetoric against immigrants from Islamic countries. She has, however, refrained from making any controversial statements in the aftermath of the recent attacks.