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French lawmakers criticize Jordan Bardella over antisemitic remarks attributed to him by Mediapart
Figures from the left and the center in the National Assembly reacted sharply to a report about the National Rally leader. Bardella and Marine Le Pen denied the accusations and described them as a political offensive against their party.
Lawmakers from several groups in France’s National Assembly voiced outrage after Mediapart attributed antisemitic remarks to Jordan Bardella, the president of National Rally. According to the report, he allegedly said in his youth, among other things, that banks are all owned by Jews.
France Info reported that criticism came from the left as well as from centrist forces, with several politicians arguing that the episode casts fresh doubt on the party’s effort to appear mainstream. Calls for Bardella to resign also emerged from the left.
Green lawmaker Benjamin Lucas linked the controversy to the party’s history, while Socialist MP Ayda Hadizadeh argued that antisemitism runs through National Rally as a whole. Along the same lines, Manuel Bompard, national coordinator of La France Insoumise, said those who in recent years tried to absolve or rehabilitate the party on this issue were badly mistaken.
There was criticism from the presidential camp and its allies as well. According to France Info, Prisca Thévenot said that from the National Front to National Rally, only the name has changed. Gabriel Attal called the remarks attributed to Bardella very serious, while adding that it remains to be seen what else may be published in the coming days. MoDem lawmaker Erwan Balanant said he was not surprised by the allegations and argued that the party’s normalization strategy does not hold up.
Bardella denied the allegations and said, according to France Info, that the aim is to destroy his political career. He also denounced what he called a total war against his party and criticized La France Insoumise. Marine Le Pen and the rest of National Rally also rejected the accusations outright.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
