Bardella Denies 2013 Antisemitic Remarks, Sues Mediapart

Jordan Bardella, the 31-year-old president of France's National Rally, denied on September 28 that he authored antisemitic private messages from 2013 disclosed by the investigative outlet Mediapart, and instructed his lawyer to file a defamation complaint against the publication.¹⁵⁸

The allegations

According to Mediapart, dozens of private messages from 2013 to 2015 were examined and found to contain antisemitic and conspiratorial content, which the outlet said it had verified as genuine.¹⁴¹⁰

According to the outlet, one message attributed to Bardella claimed that all banks are owned by Jews, and he is also alleged to have said that Zionists are necessarily Jews, according to Al Jazeera's account of the investigation.¹⁴¹⁰

According to France 24 and RTÉ, the comments were allegedly written in the summer of 2013, when Bardella was 17 or 18 years old and had joined the National Front roughly eighteen months earlier; RTS reported he was not then an active party activist.³⁶²

Mediapart co-author Alexandre Berteau said on franceinfo, "Ces écrits sont bien signés de la main de Bardella," adding that the material was "tellement compromettants" that Bardella was resorting to diversionary tactics; he also said Bardella had been an activist in the Front National in Seine-Saint-Denis in 2013, according to Mediapart's account.⁹

Bardella's response

Bardella rejected the accusations on X, describing the messages as "faux grossiers," and in English quoted material he said, "These are necessarily gross fakes."⁹⁷

He accused the outlet of running a politically motivated operation, saying it amounted to "activist media conducting smear campaign to destabilise the presidential campaign and attack my honour," and, per NewsCord, argued that Mediapart either led the operation or had been manipulated.⁶⁷

His lawyer filed a defamation lawsuit against Mediapart, and Bardella instructed the lawyer to pursue all necessary legal proceedings, according to South China Morning Post and NewsCord.⁵⁷

Political reaction

Marine Le Pen, the National Rally's presidential frontrunner and Bardella's close ally, backed his denial, saying, "Ça me paraît tellement dingue que ça ne peut être qu'un faux, qu'une barbouzerie dont Mediapart a le secret," which was rendered in English reporting as, "It seems so crazy to me that it could only be a forgery."²⁷

Yonathan Arfi, president of the Jewish representative body Crif, said the episode showed the limits of the party's efforts to shed its image, stating, "C'est une illustration des limites de la dédiabolisation du Rassemblement national," and adding in English that he was "taken aback by the violence of the antisemitic remarks attributed to Jordan Bardella."²⁷

Government minister Aurore Bergé said the writings, if confirmed, would be extremely serious, stating, "If proven, these writings are of immense gravity," while Ecologist leader Marine Tondelier said, "Il doit démissionner de toutes ses fonctions," translated as, "resign from all his positions."²⁷

Other figures also weighed in: Jean-Luc Mélenchon formally condemned the writings, Fabien Roussel linked them to what he described as a continuity of antisemitism within the party since its founding as the National Front, Sabrina Sebaihi said she would refer the matter to the public prosecutor, and Jean-Noël Barrot wrote that "antisemitism is not a mere blip for the RN; it is the very history of this party."²⁷

Context: a party's rebranding under scrutiny

National Rally, formerly the National Front, was founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen, who made repeated antisemitic remarks; the party rebranded in 2018 as part of an effort described by France 24 as ridding itself of that legacy.⁴²³

Bardella, who effectively served as the party's presidential contender through July, is widely expected to be named prime minister if Marine Le Pen wins the 2027 presidential election—a possibility bolstered by an appeals court ruling permitting her candidacy, The Straits Times reported.¹⁵⁶

The party has previously faced fallout from antisemitic and racist comments by its candidates, which The Straits Times said derailed its hopes in the 2024 legislative vote; in 2025, Bardella traveled to Israel at the government's invitation, marking the first such trip by a French far-right leader, according to Al Jazeera and RTÉ.¹⁴⁶

National Rally also won enough seats in Senate elections to form a parliamentary faction in the upper house for the first time, securing a record 14 seats, according to RTÉ and NewsCord.⁶⁷⁸