PLAGIARISM ... OR HOMAGE?

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen lifted verbatim parts of a speech by a former rival in what her critics called plagiarism and her aides said was a deliberate “wink” to him to woo his conservative voters in France’s presidential runoff Sunday. The stolen words and casual reaction by Le Pen’s team marked the latest shocking development in a French presidential campaign like no other. Perhaps more surprisingly, there was little sign it would seriously damage Le Pen.

‘The English Channel and the North Sea opening onto the Anglo-Saxon world and to the immense northern spaces. … The Atlantic, which has opened us for centuries onto the great sea and brings us adventures. The Mediterranean, the cradle of some of history’s oldest and richest civilizations. … The Pyrenees, first of all, engaging France with that immense Hispanic and Latin universe. The Alps border, with Italy our sister and beyond that central Europe, the Balkans and eastern Europe. … France is something more and much more than an economic, agricultural or military power.”

Francois Fillon, the former Republicans party candidate, speaking April 15

‘The English Channel and the North Sea opening onto the Anglo-Saxon world and to the immense northern spaces. The Mediterranean, the cradle of the oldest and richest civilizations. The Pyrenees, first of all, engaging France with that immense Hispanic and Latin universe. The Alps border, with Italy our sister and beyond that central Europe, the Balkans and eastern Europe. … France is something more and much more than an economic, agricultural or military power.”

Marine Le Pen, speaking Monday at a campaign rally