French far-right leader Bardella refutes anti-Semitism allegations

Published On 28 Sep 202628 Sep 2026The president of France’s far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally or RN), Jordan Bardella, has denied allegations of anti-Semitism.Bardella’s refutation on Monday followed the publication of a report by the Mediapart outlet alleging that the politician sent anti-Semitic private messages a decade ago. The report emerged shortly after RN secured a record 14 seats in the Senate, confirming its strong prospects ahead of presidential elections early next year.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3No Mbappe, no problem. Zidane’s France face Van Bommel’s Belgiumlist 2 of 3France’s far-right National Rally gains ground in Senate votelist 3 of 3Paris court finds Swiftair guilty over 2014 Mali crash that killed 116end of list“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,” Bardella wrote on social media.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 ca...