For the first secretary of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure, Jordan Bardella "lies" and can no longer claim Matignon. The president of the National Rally appears weakened after the publication of screenshots of anti-Semitic messages that Mediapart attributes to him. If the RN closes ranks, some are already talking about the mayor of Nice Éric Ciotti to replace him.

Published on: 02/10/2026 - 17:30

Has the Matignon hotel moved away for Jordan Bardella? The revelations from Mediapart, with the publication, Thursday, October 1, of screenshots of anti-Semitic messages attributed to the president of the National Rally (RN), make the path to the post of Prime Minister much more tortuous – and some opponents do not hesitate to speak of a dead end.

“Do we want a Prime Minister who is not only anti-Semitic, but also lies to the French in the face of overwhelming evidence?” asked Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin on RTL.

“No”, replied Olivier Faure, the first secretary of the Socialist Party (PS), on the same radio: “We have a double subject here, his anti-Semitism and lying in politics. Both are not forgiving.”

Read alsoMediapart publishes “proof” of anti-Semitic messages attributed to Jordan Bardella

A ticket still valid, according to Marion Maréchal

Marine Le Pen committed on July 7, when announcing her candidacy for the presidential election, to designate the popular Jordan Bardella as Prime Minister. Since then, the MEP, who must be re-elected at the party congress (October 24 and 25 in Orléans), had launched a media campaign to show that he had taken the ticket with Marine Le Pen.

At the beginning of September, he showed himself in conquered territory at the Châlons-en-Champagne Fair, where he demonstrated that "bardellamania" was not weakening, then he gave confidences to the press. But Mediapart's revelations on Monday stopped him in his tracks, disrupting a campaign trip by Marine Le Pen to the Batimat show, where she was unable to present her measures for housing to the press.

Jordan Bardella, who denounces Mediapart's "pseudo-proofs" and assures "never made" anti-Semitic remarks, himself implicitly recognized that this affair could harm his appointment to Matignon. He assured that Mediapart's objective was to "kill (his) political career" and to attack "one half of the pair" that he forms with Marine Le Pen.

Around its president, the RN has closed ranks. Marine Le Pen immediately denounced a “barbouzerie”, while Marion Maréchal affirmed that she wanted Jordan Bardella “to be Prime Minister and govern”, while ensuring that the ticket with her aunt remained “obviously” valid.

“In a family, we argue over details, but when it is serious, everyone comes together,” says a parliamentary source from the RN who attributes to Marine Le Pen “the temperament of a wolf who defends her own and does not hide.”

Read alsoNow essential, the RN between presidentialization and refusal of the rule of law

“My hypothesis is that Marine Le Pen will pull the plug”

“She was forced to support Jordan Bardella so as not to lose the electorate who would not forgive her for having abandoned him along the way,” puts sociologist Erwan Lecœur, specialist in the extreme right, into perspective. “My hypothesis is that Marine Le Pen will unplug him,” he adds, convinced that the more “Jordan Bardella defends himself, the deeper he sinks and the RN with him.”

The candidate convicted on appeal for embezzlement reiterated this week her "absolute confidence" in Jordan Bardella, has still not spoken after the publication on Thursday of screenshots of the messages, authenticated by a bailiff, that he allegedly sent in 2013.

Behind the scenes, some are already thinking about the future and are talking about replacing him with Éric Ciotti, the former president of the Les Républicains (LR) party who allied himself with the RN two years ago. “His speech is complementary to that of Marine Le Pen, whereas with Jordan it would have been a little less so,” observes a parliamentary source. An LR executive does not hesitate to speak of a “windfall” for the mayor of Nice.

Within Eric Ciotti's UDR, we don't want to hear about it: "The stink balls of the far left have not eroded Marine's confidence in Jordan by a millimeter, nor the French's confidence in the national camp if I believe the latest polls", we say.

With AFP

Keywords associated with the article

The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.