Watch: Marine Le Pen Denied Meeting with Islamic Cleric After Refusing to Wear Veil

French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was forced to cancel a meeting with the Grand Mufti of Al-Azhar on Tuesday after refusing to wear an Islamic headscarf while on a two-day tour of Lebanon campaigning for Franco-Lebanese votes before the April 23 election.

Le Pen said she had previously met with the Grand Mufti during a visit to Egypt in 2015 without covering her head.

"I met the grand mufti of Al-Azhar," she told reporters. "The highest Sunni authority didn't have this requirement, but it doesn't matter."

"You can pass on my respects to the grand mufti, but I will not cover myself up," she insisted.

Le Pen is a major European skeptic of Islam and the religion's growing influence in the Western world.