Jordan Bardella, president of France’s far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally or RN), has denied allegations of anti-Semitism. His refutation on Monday followed the publication of a report by the Mediapart outlet alleging that Bardella sent anti-Semitic private messages a decade ago. The report emerged shortly after RN secured a record 14 seats in the Senate, indicating strong prospects ahead of presidential elections early next year.
Bardella stated on social media, "I formally dispute the accusations against me by Mediapart, which attributes to me deranged and anti-Semitic remarks that I supposedly made when I was a minor. These are obviously blatant forgeries." The 31-year-old politician, a close ally of presidential frontrunner Marine Le Pen, claimed that the "activist press" is orchestrating "smear operations" to "destabilise" RN’s presidential campaign, asserting that the victory of their ideas is imminent.
Bardella, who is considered a potential prime minister should Le Pen win the presidency, indicated that he has instructed his lawyer to pursue "all necessary proceedings." Mediapart reported that it reviewed dozens of private messages from 2013-2015 that allegedly depict a pattern of anti-Semitic rhetoric. One message reportedly included Bardella claiming, "all the banks are owned by Jews."
Bardella remarked, "Since I began engaging in politics, I have never had any ambiguity about the fight against anti-Semitism and was received by the Israeli government in 2025." Mediapart also cited a chat in which Bardella allegedly stated, "The Jew has to dominate other peoples, crush them, and rob them; a Zionist is necessarily a Jew, and fundamentally so."
The outlet claims it independently authenticated the private messages and drew on testimony from former party colleagues. Bardella has led the RN party’s rebranding efforts to distance it from its history of racism and anti-Semitism, which was associated with its former name, the National Front. The party was founded by Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie, and led by Marine from 2011 to 2021 before changing its name in 2018.
Previous anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and racist comments by candidates have impacted the party’s chances of winning a parliamentary majority in France’s legislative vote in 2024. Bardella previously pledged to avoid "casting errors" by systematically removing candidates with a history of toxic statements. He was the party’s de facto presidential candidate until July, when an appeals court cleared Marine Le Pen to run for the presidency.
On Monday, Le Pen stated that the report could "only be a fake, a manipulation, a dirty trick," and expressed her expectation that Bardella would file an imminent defamation lawsuit. She has also sought to improve the party’s image and emphasized building closer ties with Israel.