Jean-Marie Le Pen (French pronunciation:  [Za ma.Ri l@.pen]; born 20 June 1928) is a French politician who has served as Honorary President of the National Front since January 2011 and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from France since 2004, previously between 1984 to 2003. He previously served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011.

Le Pen is often nicknamed the "Menhir", due to his "granitic nature" as he is perceived as someone who does not give way to pressure or who cannot be easily knocked down. It also connects him to France's Celtic origins. Le Pen is often described as one of the most flamboyant and charismatic orators in Europe, whose speech blends folksy humour, crude attacks and rhetorical finesse.  However, Le Pen remains a polarizing figure in France: opinions regarding him tend to be quite strong. A 2002 IPSOS poll showed that while 22% of the electorate have a good or very good opinion of Le Pen, and 13% an unfavorable opinion, 61% have a very unfavorable opinion.  Le Pen and the National Front are described by much of the media and nearly all commentators as far right. Le Pen himself and the rest of his party disagree with this label; earlier in his political career, Le Pen described his position as "neither right, nor left, but French" (ni droite, ni gauche, francais). He later described his position as right-wing and opposed to the "socialo-communists" and other right-wing parties, which he deems are not real right-wing parties. At other times, for example during the 2002 election campaign, he declared himself "socially left-wing, economically right-wing, nationally French" (socialement a gauche, economiquement a droite, nationalement francais). He further contends that most of the French political and media class are corrupt and out of touch with the real needs of the common people, and conspire to exclude Le Pen and his party from mainstream politics. Le Pen criticizes the other political parties as the "establishment" and lumped all major parties (Communist, Socialist, Union for French Democracy (UDF) and Rally for the Republic (RPR)) into the "Gang of Four" (la bande des quatre - an allusion to the Gang of Four during China's Cultural Revolution). Answer this question using a quote from the following article:

Why did he say he was just french?
described by much of the media and nearly all commentators as far right. Le Pen himself and the rest of his party disagree with this label;