K.T. McFarland, the former deputy national security adviser in the first Trump administration, told Newsmax on Tuesday that Marine Le Pen's criminal conviction and ban from running for president in France is copied from the same playbook the political elites tried to use against President Donald Trump.

McFarland joined "Rob Schmitt Tonight" to react to the embezzlement conviction handed down on Le Pen, leader of the populist National Rally party of France.

"The only crime Marine Le Pen committed is that she's more popular than they are. The entrenched political class cannot tolerate someone coming in and upending the social order of their corruption, their incompetence, and their suppression of the popular vote," McFarland said. "It's the same thing they did to Donald Trump. It's the same thing they did to [Silvio] Berlusconi in Italy. It's the same thing they did to [Jair] Bolsonaro in Brazil.

"What this is, is a global reaction to the entrenched political class of the global elites, who for 20 to 30 years have been bossing everybody around, getting it all wrong, screwing things up in their own countries. And so rightfully, populist movements have grown up all around the world," McFarland added.

Le Pen was convicted of a fake jobs scheme at the EU Parliament. Along with two years of house arrest, she's barred from seeking public office for five years. An appeals court said Tuesday it would review her case within a timeframe that could allow her to run in France's 2027 election to replace outgoing President Emmanuel Macron, if it overturns her conviction.

"This is not an accident that this is happening. It's a lot of scared people who don't want to give up their privileges," McFarland said.

Also, accepting a pardon from Macron would mean Le Pen having to accept the verdict and not launch an appeal, which would also keep her out of the 2027 election.

"She's fighting back. She's not going to take this. She's not whimpering away. She's not going to accept Macron's phony pardon. She is going to fight this," McFarland said. "And my guess is France is ready for a fighter. And if fighters stand up, they've seen how Donald Trump did it. They've got the playbook."

McFarland predicted Le Pen's "going to be the new president of France in 2027."

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• French Court: Le Pen Appeal Ruling Could Come Before Presidential Vote
• France Judge Bars Marine Le Pen From Office After Embezzlement Conviction