Marine Le Pen backs Bardella after antisemitism accusations — France 24

In France, presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said she has complete trust in National Rally leader Jordan Bardella. This came after the Mediapart website accused the 31-year-old politician of writing antisemitic messages in 2013, when he was a teenager.

As France 24 reports, Mediapart published the accusations on Monday and released screenshots of Bardella's alleged Facebook Messenger correspondence on Thursday. According to the outlet, the messages contained antisemitic statements.

Bardella denies the accusations

Bardella categorically rejected the accusations. He said his opponents were waging total war against him to prevent the National Rally from coming to power. The politician also promised to take Mediapart to court, calling the published materials fakes.

Le Pen initially repeated Bardella's denials while speaking alongside him before party lawmakers. After the screenshots emerged, she did not comment on the situation for some time, but later told La Tribune Dimanche that she had complete trust in her ally.

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Risks for Le Pen's campaign

Bardella was one of the key participants in Le Pen's strategy to de-demonize the party, aimed at distancing it from the antisemitic legacy of National Rally founder Jean-Marie Le Pen. In 2025, Bardella visited Israel — the first such visit by a French far-right leader.

Pollster Erwan Leker believes Le Pen backed Bardella in order not to alienate voters who would not have forgiven his removal. At the same time, he suggested that she could stop supporting him if the scandal harmed the party. Cardiff University politics lecturer Marta Lorimer noted that Bardella's possible removal could be linked not only to the accusations but also to broader disagreements between him and Le Pen.

According to France 24, polls indicated that Le Pen has a chance of winning the 2027 presidential election. If she is elected, Bardella would likely be able to head the government.