French far‑right leader vows to sue over alleged antisemitic youth comments
The president of France’s hard‑right National Rally, Jordan Bardella, has announced he will take a libel action after the investigative website Mediapart released an archive of chat conversations that appear to show him making antisemitic statements during his teenage years.
According to Mediapart, which said its work drew on “several months” of investigation, the messages were posted in 2013 when Bardella was 17 or 18. The excerpts contain comments about Jewish control of banks, a call to dominate and rob Jews, and a vision of a new world order ruled by Israel with Jerusalem as its capital.
Bardella rejected the allegations as a fabrication aimed at crippling his political career. He has said the claims are part of a broader campaign to destabilise the National Rally ahead of the July presidential election, and that he will seek damages for defamation. Marine Le Pen, the party’s presidential candidate, echoed the suspicion that the material is forged and praised Bardella’s commitment to the party’s clean‑ups.
Mediapart, an openly left‑leaning platform that has exposed scandals across the political spectrum, asserts that it has independently verified the conversations and that they are corroborated by witnesses. The outlet has not released screenshots of the chat logs.
The incident comes as polls suggest Marine Le Pen is poised to win the first round of France’s presidential election, with their National Rally gaining significant support. Critics argue that the remarks, if true, reveal a persistence of far‑right antisemitism that the party claims to have distanced itself from. Supporters say the narrative is a “dirty trick” used by opposition forces.
Bardella has said the accusations are “a big blow” and a sign of escalating political pressure. He appointed a lawyer to pursue a lawsuit and urged his supporters to prepare for a “total war” against the National Rally’s credibility.
The National Rally’s recent move toward a “shield for the Jewish community” and its invitation to Bardella for an antisemitism conference last year have heightened both domestic and international scrutiny of its record on extremism.
