‘Problematic past’: Far-right National Rally candidates scrutinised in French election

As it stands on the threshold of power in France, the far-right National Rally is facing scrutiny about some of the candidates it hopes will help it secure a ruling majority in legislative elections on Sunday, including a woman it has pulled from the high-stakes race over a photo of her wearing a World War II-era Nazi officer’s cap. Other National Rally candidates whose suitability is being questioned by the party’s critics and opponents include a woman said by French media to have once held a town employee hostage at gunpoint, a man who may not be eligible to serve as a lawmaker because he is under guardianship, a candidate who tweeted that “gas brought justice to the victims of the Shoah” and others who have been little-seen on the campaign trail.