France: Jordan Bardella accused of anti-Semitism by Mediapart

On Monday 28 September, Mediapart revealed a series of anti-Semitic remarks attributed to Jordan Bardella, leader of the National Rally, made whilst he was a young activist with the National Front in 2013.

Bardella, backed by his party and its presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, denies these accusations and condemns them as “smear tactics”. With the presidential election just a few months away, the affair undermines the strategy of ‘de-demonisation’ that the far-right party has been pursuing for several years. At the same time, it serves as a reminder of the anti-Semitism inherent in the party’s origins, its founder Jean-Marie Le Pen and its notorious ‘black sheep’.

Pending the release of evidence, which Mediapart claims to possess, Jordan Bardella has filed a defamation complaint against the independent media outlet. Marine Le Pen, for her part, has threatened the publication’s editorial team, urging them to “put on their Kevlar suits”… The political establishment has condemned the RN’s inflammatory rhetoric, whilst Reporters Without Borders has denounced “Marine Le Pen’s verbal attacks and physical threats”.

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