Cover image: Jordan Bardella, président du Rassemblement national (RN), parti d’extrême droite français, et Marine Le Pen, présidente du groupe parlementaire du Rassemblement national, quittent le nouveau siège du parti à l’issue d’une réunion, le 7 juillet 2026. © Julien De Rosa, AFP

Still the same far-right? Le Pen's National Rally denies fresh antisemitism claims

· France 24

We’ll examine the evidence and hear the denial from 31-year-old Jordan Bardella. We’ll also chart his rise: groomed as an eventual stand-in for the presidential frontrunner after an appeals court allowed Le Pen to run despite her corruption conviction.

And we’ll ask how the accusations land for a party that, since the October 7 attacks against Israel, has sought to portray itself as a rampart defending France’s Jewish community against antisemitism.

Le Pen’s gut reaction was to blast the report by investigative news site Mediapart as a plot, a conspiracy. We happen to live in an age when conspiracy theories flow freely—including, of course, the conspiracy theory that Jews secretly run the world.

So, in the end, what could these allegations mean for Marine Le Pen’s prospects in 2027?

Produced by François Picard, Charles Wente, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip