Bardella sues over alleged antisemitic past amid French election storm
National Rally president Jordan Bardella has said he will sue for libel after the Paris‑based investigative website Mediapart published comments he allegedly made in 2013 that were described as antisemitic.
According to Mediapart, the alleged remarks were found in a trove of written conversations that the outlet says it has “independently authenticated”. The website claims the chats were corroborated by witness statements, although no screenshots were published.
Bardella, who could become France’s prime minister if Marine Le Pen wins the presidential election next year, called the story “a fabrication aimed at derailing the RN’s campaign.” He told a television interview that either Mediapart was running the operation itself or was being manipulated by “interested parties” and that he had instructed his lawyer to begin the libel case.
Le Pen described the alleged comments as “weird” and said they were “merely a forgery” used as a dirty trick. She also voiced confidence in Bardella’s refusal to cooperate with the accusations.
Mediapart lists excerpts that include statements such as: “All the banks are owned by Jews”; “The Jew has to dominate other people, crush them and rob them”; and “What they want is a new world order dominated by Israel, with, of course, Jerusalem as its capital.” The site is known for left‑wing investigations but has targeted politicians across the spectrum.
Meanwhile, opinion polls show the hard‑right surfacing ahead of the election. A recent Toluna–Harris survey indicated Marine Le Pen could win the first round with 35‑36 % of the vote, and she would likely outpoll popular centrist candidate Édouard Philippe in a two‑way run‑off.
The RN has made efforts to distance itself from its antisemitic roots, inviting Bardella to an Israeli conference on the subject last year. The party now positions militant Islam as a threat while framing itself as a “shield for the Jewish community,” according to some observers.
Some left‑wing politicians have called for Bardella’s resignation, and the head of the Jewish umbrella organisation CRIF, Yonathan Arfi, said the alleged comments underscored the limits of the RN’s “clean‑up” act. RN deputy Jean‑Philippe Tanguy countered that the remarks may originate from ex‑members expelled for antisemitic views in the early 2010s.
