French Right-Wing Leader Bardella Files Lawsuit Over Antisemitic Remarks Allegation
Bardella says the allegations are crude forgeries and Mediapart says it authenticated dozens of private messages from 2013 to 2015.
- On Monday, investigative website Mediapart alleged that National Rally leader Jordan Bardella wrote antisemitic private messages between 2013 and 2015, including the claim that "all the banks are owned by Jews."
- These allegations complicate the party's decade-long effort to "de-demonise" its image, as Bardella, tipped to become prime minister if Marine Le Pen wins the 2027 presidency, has sought to build closer ties with Israel.
- Bardella dismissed the claims as "crude forgeries" on Monday, labelling them "blatant falsehoods" intended to "destabilise the presidential campaign," and said he instructed his lawyer to pursue "all necessary proceedings" against Mediapart.
- Le Pen defended her lieutenant, declaring she had "total confidence" in Bardella and accusing Mediapart of "dirty tricks" in what she described as a "total war" against the National Rally.
- Past electoral setbacks underscore why these allegations pose a material threat, as toxic comments from candidates previously derailed the National Rally's hopes of winning a parliamentary majority in the 2024 legislative vote.
132 Articles
132 Articles
PARIS. Marine Le Pen's closest man, party leader Jordan Bardella, is said to have expressed gross anti-Semitic sentiments in messages he wrote as a young man, when he had just joined the party. This is revealed by the French newspaper Mediapart. Now there are growing demands for Bardella's resignation.
The far right party National Rally denounced on Tuesday a "try to destabilize", after the revelation of anti-Semitic messages attributed to its president Jordan Bardella who came to shake the campaign of Marine Le Pen, the favorite of the presidential polls.
In his youth, the head of the National Racial Movement is said to have expressed himself anti-Semitic, reports now a revelation portal. This puts the "deepening" of the lepenists in danger.
Jordan Bardella, a key ally of France's far-right presidential front-runner Marine Le Pen, said Tuesday that accusations that he made anti-Semitic comments in 2013 were part of an “all-out war” against his party to undermine positions ahead of elections in 2027.
The chairperson of Marine Le Pen's party is said to have made antisemitic remarks on multiple occasions shortly after joining the party. The Rassemblement National is leading in the polls for next year's presidential elections.
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