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The National Front in France has suspended a politician who called Christiane Taubira, the country’s black justice minister, a “monkey” who she would “rather see in the trees than in the government”.

The apparently racist outburst by Anne-Sophie Leclere, a mayoral candidate in Rethel, in the Ardennes, north-eastern France, is an embarrassing blow to Marine Le Pen, the leader of the party, who has threatened to sue anyone who describes them as “extreme Right”.

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On her Facebook page, Miss Leclere, 33, who runs a fishing shop, posted a montage of photographs placing a picture of a baby monkey, with the caption: “At 18 months” next to one of Miss Taubira, with the caption: “Now”.

Quizzed by Envoye Special, an investigative television programme that unearthed the pictures, she said that it had “nothing to do with racism”. But she went on to say: “To be honest, I’d rather see her in the branches of a tree than in the government. Quite frankly, she’s a savage when she arrives with a devilish grin. But it’s not racist.”

Miss Taubira, from French Guiana, did not react immediately to the comments.

But anti-racism groups seized on it as a sign that “we can see the real face of the Front National”.

The party has summoned Miss Leclere to its disciplinary committee.

The Daily Telegraph