Bardella Denies Antisemitic Messages, Le Pen Backs Him

Jordan Bardella denied allegations that he made antisemitic comments in private exchanges in 2013 and said he had taken legal action against the publication that reported them, while Marine Le Pen publicly backed him and vowed that their National Rally party would respond. The dispute comes as Le Pen prepares to run in France’s 2027 presidential election, with Bardella serving as party leader and a close ally. The allegations concern messages attributed to Bardella when he was 17 or 18. The report described comments invoking Jewish control of banks and other antisemitic conspiracy theories. Bardella denied authorship, calling the remarks delusional and saying they were not his. He announced a defamation complaint against the publication. The publication said the material came from private written exchanges and that it had authenticated them. It did not disclose how it obtained or verified the exchanges, identify their recipients, or publish screenshots. The supplied accounts provide no independent examination of the messages, leaving their authorship unresolved.