Europe · updated 55m ago · 2 min read
Jordan Bardella Denies Mediapart Antisemitic Messages, Files Defamation Complaint
Bardella filed a defamation lawsuit against Mediapart over 2013 antisemitic remarks report. Mediapart alleges private messages from 2013 contained antisemitic remarks by Bardella.
Whether Mediapart provided screenshots or location details.
6 of 7 outlets skipped it: mediapart says Bardella aligned with Alain Soral circles.
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France 24
“It did not specify where the messages had been written or publish screenshots.”Read the original ↗
Reuters
“Mediapart cited one message in which it said Bardella claimed ‘all the banks are owned by Jews’.”Read the original ↗
France 24 adds documentation caveats about screenshots and location, while Reuters focuses on a quoted message and denial.
Bardella denies Mediapart
Jordan Bardella denied allegations that Mediapart published antisemitic messages attributed to him from 2013, and he said, "These are necessarily gross fakes." Bardella told CNews that his lawyer "filed a defamation complaint," and he argued that "either Mediapart is at the head of this operation, or Mediapart is being manipulated by people who have an interest".
Marine Le Pen reacted in Paris by saying, "It seems so crazy to me that it could only be a forgery, that a smear campaign of which Mediapart is capable," while the RN leader insisted the investigation aimed to destabilize the presidential campaign. Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif), said the case illustrated "the limits of dedemonization of the National Rally," and he added that he was "taken aback by the violence of the antisemitic remarks attributed to Jordan Bardella".
Left demands resignation
Marine Tondelier, head of the Greens, judged that Bardella must "resign from all his positions," and she denounced "an obsessive antisemitism." Sabrina Sebaihi announced she would refer the facts to the public prosecutor, and Aurore Bergé said on X that "If proven, these writings are of immense gravity."
Bardella’s lawyer David Dassa-Le Deist told LCI that "one cannot exclude that people who were ousted from the party" were driven by "a very strong vengeful will." Fabien Roussel wrote that "From the FN, founded by Waffen-SS, to today’s RN, they will remain the same: antisemitic, racist, conspiratorial," and Olivier Faure quipped, "We understand better today why Bardella could say that Jean‑Marie Le Pen was not antisemitic."
Legal fight and stakes
Bardella said he had instructed his lawyer to pursue "all necessary proceedings," and he described the allegations as a bid "to destabilise" RN’s presidential campaign. Mediapart’s report, as described in the sources, relied on private messages from 2013 to 2015 and included claims such as "all the banks are owned by Jews" and "The Jew has to dominate other peoples, crush them, and rob them".
France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot wrote that "antisemitism is not a mere blip for the RN; it is the very history of this party," while Le Pen said she believed the report could "only be a fake, a manipulation, a dirty trick." The dispute also intersected with RN’s political momentum, with Al Jazeera noting that Bardella’s refutation came shortly after RN secured a record 14 seats in the Senate, and with Reuters describing Bardella as tipped to become prime minister if Le Pen wins the presidency.