French far-right party disowns candidate for ostensibly antisemitic comment

France’s far-right National Rally (RN) withdraws support for one of its candidates in a looming legislative election over an allegedly antisemitic social media message posted in 2018.

Joseph Martin was supposed to be an RN candidate for the National Assembly for the northwestern department of Morbihan.

According to France’s Liberation newspaper, Martin wrote on social media in October 2018 that “gas did justice for the victims of the Holocaust.”

The tweet was deleted around midday today.

“He no longer has the support of the National Rally. He is suspended and will be summoned with a view to his exclusion,” an RN spokesperson tells AFP, adding that it is too late to withdraw Martin’s candidacy.

However, some commentators have noted that Martin’s 2018 post came a day after the death of noted Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson, and asserted he was in fact celebrating Faurisson’s death (though it is not clear from reporting that Faurisson died of gas inhalation).

Martin himself has yet to comment on the matter.