Bardella Antisemitism Claims Shake RN Campaign

Jordan Bardella, president of France’s National Rally (RN), says he will sue Mediapart for libel after the investigative website reported that he made antisemitic comments in online conversations in 2013, when he was 17 or 18. The alleged remarks included claims that Jews controlled banks and sought to dominate others. Mediapart says it authenticated the conversations using a wider documentary record and witness statements, but it did not publish screenshots of the comments. Bardella calls the allegations fabricated and part of an effort to destabilise his party ahead of next year’s presidential election. Marine Le Pen, the RN’s presidential candidate, expressed confidence in him and suggested the statements could be forged. The allegations come as the RN is performing strongly in pre-election polling. A Toluna-Harris survey showed Le Pen leading in the first round and winning hypothetical run-offs against both radical-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon and centrist Edouard Philippe. The party also gained enough seats in a partial Senate election to form an official group for the first time. The report has renewed scrutiny of the RN’s efforts to distance itself from the antisemitic history of the French far right. The party now presents itself as a defender of Jewish people and identifies militant Islam as a major threat. Bardella has previously visited Israel for a conference on antisemitism. Mediapart argues that the alleged comments point to an older current of far-right thinking that has been concealed rather than eliminated. Left-wing politicians called for Bardella to resign, and Crif head Yonathan Arfi said the claims highlighted the limits of the party’s efforts to rebrand. RN deputy Jean-Philippe Tanguy countered that the allegations came from former party members expelled for antisemitism.

Marine Le Pen has vowed that her far-right National Rally (RN) party will “counterattack” after the investigative website Mediapart reported that party leader Jordan Bardella allegedly made anti-Semitic comments in private chats in 2013, when he was 17 or 18. Bardella denies making the comments, says the report is part of an effort to derail Le Pen’s 2027 presidential campaign, and is taking legal action against Mediapart. Le Pen has expressed “total confidence” in him and accused her opponents of trying to undermine her campaign, which is buoyed by polls showing her as a strong contender to win the presidency. Bardella, 31, is considered Le Pen’s closest political ally and a likely prime minister if she wins. He has helped the RN attract younger voters and is central to Le Pen’s effort to make the party more electable by distancing it from the anti-Semitic legacy of its former leader, her father Jean-Marie Le Pen. Bardella’s 2025 visit to Israel, described as unprecedented for a French far-right leader, was part of that effort. Mediapart says it authenticated the messages but did not disclose where they were posted or publish screenshots. The report attributes to Bardella statements including, “The Jew has to dominate other peoples, crush them, and rob them,” and “all the banks are owned by Jews.” Bardella characterized the allegations as an operation prepared over several months and suggested Mediapart may have been manipulated by powerful figures seeking to destabilize the campaign. The controversy comes as Le Pen prepares for a fourth presidential run and faces a conviction in a European Parliament fake-jobs case, which she also describes as politically motivated. The RN has recently made a breakthrough in the Senate, securing enough seats to form a parliamentary group there for the first time. Republican politician Julien Aubert said the dispute could have serious consequences for either Bardella or Mediapart, depending on whether the allegations are substantiated.

France 24’s Tuesday press review covers student protests, allegations against National Rally leader Jordan Bardella, the expansion of US AI data centres and a shortage of applicants for England’s Mister World pageant. In France, high school students are calling for a nationwide blockade amid complaints about absent teachers, deteriorating school buildings, insufficient funding, overcrowded classes and the smartphone ban. The protests began at a school in the Paris region, according to Le Monde. The article also reports that a police officer allegedly injured a student by firing a grenade-launcher round at close range. With presidential elections approaching, politicians have weighed in: Jean-Luc Mélenchon called the blockades harmless and accused the government of repression, while Education Minister Edouard Geffray condemned what he described as outside groups’ violent instrumentalisation of young people. The review then discusses Mediapart’s allegations that Bardella made anti-Semitic comments in 2013, when he was a young activist. Bardella has denied the allegations, arguing that he was a minor at the time. Mediapart points to his earlier statements that he joined the party in 2012, while the left-wing newspaper L’Humanité says the allegations suggest the National Rally’s rebranding has not changed its ideology. Bardella is described as a potential prime minister if Marine Le Pen wins next year’s presidential election. A Washington Post interactive report examines how AI data centres are reshaping US landscapes, including farmland and desert. One example is Elon Musk’s Colossus 2, described as the country’s largest operating data centre. Finally, the Guardian considers the difficulty of recruiting candidates for England’s Mister World representative: only seven have signed up ahead of the October 7 final. Organisers have tried promoting the search at a beach and asking Miss England finalists to nominate male relatives or partners.

France 24 reports that Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, said on Monday that he had filed a defamation lawsuit against investigative website Mediapart. The legal action responds to a Mediapart report alleging that Bardella made antisemitic remarks in private messages more than a decade ago. Bardella characterized the report as an attempt to “destabilise” political campaigning ahead of next year’s election. The article does not provide details of the alleged messages, the evidence cited by Mediapart, or the lawsuit’s specific claims beyond describing it as a defamation case. It therefore presents the allegation and Bardella’s response without resolving the dispute or establishing whether the reported remarks were made. The report situates the controversy within the National Rally’s broader political context: the party is seeking to overcome its racist image, while its candidate, Marine Le Pen, is leading polls for the April presidential election. The short item is credited to France 24 journalist Antonia Kerrigan and is presented as a video report. Overall, it describes a legal and political dispute over alleged past antisemitic comments, Bardella’s denial-by-action through a lawsuit, and the possible significance of the controversy during a coming election campaign. It gives no response from Mediapart and offers no additional reaction from other political figures.

The France 24 video report concerns allegations that Jordan Bardella, a prominent ally of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, made antisemitic comments in 2013. According to the article’s description, Bardella addressed the allegations on Tuesday, characterizing them as part of a “total war” against his party ahead of the 2027 elections. The report does not provide the alleged comments themselves or details about the evidence, the people making the allegations, or any response from them, so it does not establish the merits of the claims. The article places Bardella’s remarks in the context of the National Rally’s effort to become more broadly electable. It describes him as a capable social-media user who presents a clean-cut public image and as an important participant in Le Pen’s project of “de-demonisation”—an effort to soften the party’s image. The account thus links the controversy to the party’s political positioning and the coming presidential contest, while presenting Bardella’s description of the allegations as his own characterization. The item is a short video segment, credited to France 24 French Politics Editor Marc Perelman, rather than a detailed written investigation. The supplied page text offers no further reporting or independent assessment of the controversy. Its central focus is the political dispute: allegations about Bardella’s past comments, his claim that they form part of a concerted campaign against the party, and the broader stakes for the National Rally as it prepares for the 2027 polls.

Marine Le Pen defended National Rally (RN) leader Jordan Bardella after Mediapart published allegations that he made anti-Semitic comments in private chats in 2013, when he was 17 or 18. Le Pen called the report an attempt to damage her momentum ahead of the 2027 presidential election and said Bardella had her “total confidence.” Bardella denies making the remarks, says he is taking legal action against Mediapart and describes the report as part of a planned effort to destabilise the campaign. Mediapart says it authenticated the comments, but did not disclose where the messages were written or publish screenshots. The allegations arrive as Le Pen is performing strongly in opinion polls and the RN has recently won enough seats to form a parliamentary group in the French Senate for the first time. Le Pen intends to run for president despite her conviction in a European Parliament fake-jobs case, which she also characterises as politically motivated. Bardella, 31, has helped the party attract younger voters and is viewed as a potential prime minister should Le Pen win. The report also raises questions about the RN’s effort to shed its historic association with anti-Semitism. Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, founded the party’s predecessor and repeatedly made anti-Semitic remarks. Bardella has been central to the RN’s “de-demonisation” strategy, including a 2025 visit to Israel—the first by a French far-right leader—which was intended to demonstrate the party’s changed credentials. A senior figure in the right-wing Republicans said the competing possibilities were that Mediapart’s report was accurate, threatening Bardella’s political future, or that it was a damaging deception. The dispute therefore places the RN’s rebranding and Le Pen’s campaign under renewed scrutiny.