Le Pen Says Islam Fits the Republic, Then Promises a Referendum to Ban the Veil Step by Step

Marine Le Pen wants to reassure France’s Muslims. On Thursday evening, 15 October, the National Rally’s presidential candidate sat down with Laurence Ferrari on “Objectif Élysée 2027”, broadcast on Europe 1 and CNEWS, and was asked about a startling poll: according to Ifop for Marianne, 46 percent of French Muslims say they would consider leaving France if she wins.

They are “quite wrong to fear my arrival in power”, Le Pen answered. She said she is extremely respectful of freedom of conscience and religion, that Islam is compatible with the Republic, and that Muslims will be able to “continue to practise their religion, to have their beliefs without any difficulty”. What is not compatible, she said, is sharia and Islamist fundamentalism.

“Ce qui n'est pas compatible avec la République, c'est la charia et le fondamentalisme islamiste. Ceux qui sont des adeptes du fondamentalisme islamiste et qui cherchent à imposer la charia en France me trouveront sur leur chemin. Les musulmans, eux, n'ont absolument aucune raison de s'inquiéter.”

“What is not compatible with the Republic is sharia and Islamist fundamentalism. Those who follow Islamist fundamentalism and seek to impose sharia in France will find me in their way. Muslims, for their part, have absolutely no reason to worry.”

— Marine Le Pen on “Objectif Élysée 2027” (Europe 1 / CNEWS), 15 October 2026

The veil goes, one building at a time

The reassurance came with a hard edge. Le Pen promised a referendum on a bill to fight “totalitarian ideologies”, and said the veil “in reality forms part of this totalitarian ideology”. She wants to ban it gradually: first in universities, sports federations and public buildings, then, according to Anadolu’s summary of the interview, in the street. She framed it as a fight against an ideology, its funding and its networks, rather than as a question of secularism.

Not everyone on the right is pleased. Austrian identitarian activist Martin Sellner wrote on X that Le Pen is trying to appease Muslims because the Muslim vote grows with every election, and called it “a live enactment of Michel Houellebecq’s Submission”. A real right-wing party, he argued, must not court the ethnic vote. That is his opinion.

The interview covered much more. Le Pen said she will present a pension reform on 17 November, no longer wants France to leave the EU and wants to change it from within, and insisted that nothing can now stop her standing in 2027.