As
France’s Marine Le Pen stumbles, her far-right protégé seizes the limelight
Jordan
Bardella’s glitzy book tour encourages speculation about a palace coup at the
top of the National Rally party.
November 15,
2024 4:00 am CET
By Victor
Goury-Laffont
PARIS — From
the very first pages of his new book, Jordan Bardella, the 29-year-old
president of France’s far-right National Rally party, sets the tone for what is
to come in this 324-page political tale.
The story he
tells — that of a self-starter raised by a single mother in an impoverished
Parisian suburb with a large immigrant population, who eventually climbed to
the top of France’s most popular party and came close to becoming prime
minister before 30 — is one he has told repeatedly since he burst onto the
national stage during the 2019 European election.
This
familiar tale, however, could hardly have come at a more defining political
moment for the French far right, just as Marine Le Pen — the National Rally’s
hope for winning the presidency in 2027 — faces a trial that throws her
political future into jeopardy and could well dash her hopes of following
Emmanuel Macron into the Elysée.
Small
wonder, then, that the razzmatazz around the book tour is forcing Le Pen’s
protégé to confront a question that has dogged his rapid political ascent: Is
he already preparing himself for a palace coup?
What are you
seeking, Jordan?
On the
whole, the book offers a self-satisfied view of his life, with Bardella
presenting himself as a born leader willing to sacrifice personal comfort for
the greater good. He gives little new insight into his political outlook, and
puts forward no new ideas in “Ce que je cherche” (“What I am looking for”). Nor
does the book include any juicy surprises that would have fueled media buzz and
boosted sales ahead of its release.
Not that it
needed any of that. Bardella’s popularity alone was enough to create a major
buzz. His publisher, Fayard — which is owned by conservative media mogul
Vincent Bolloré — printed 155,000 copies, close to the 200,000 copies which
were run off when then-candidate Macron released his “Révolution” book in 2016
before hitting the campaign trail for his first presidential run.
Bardella has
since embarked on a media blitz, traveling across France to meet supporters at
events that blend book signings with political rallies.
The backdrop
of the Le Pen trial is impossible to ignore. Bardella’s mentor and predecessor
has found herself in court on embezzlement charges that she rejects,
proclaiming her innocence.
On
Wednesday, prosecutors pushed for Le Pen to be sentenced to five years in
prison, three of which would be suspended, and to receive a five-year ban on
running for public office. With the verdict expected early next year, a ban
would sink her plans to run in the next presidential election, currently
scheduled for 2027.
Earlier in
the day, as Le Pen waited for prosecutors to show their hand, a pack of
high-ranking National Rally officials and parliamentarians came to court in
support of their candidate — but not Bardella, who was busy signing copies of
his book at an event held in Brussels.
The National
Rally’s other face
Bardella
writes in the book that he had to “flee to get away from the violence and drug
dealing at the bottom of [his] building.” He paints an apocalyptic picture of
his hometown, where “the incessant comings and goings of drug dealers, the
screams, the noise of automatic weapons, the settling of scores at the foot of
buildings, the trafficking, the violence, the assaults, the Islamization” were
“a daily reality.”
Bardella
then explains how he often saw his mother “deprive herself of leisure
activities or clothing in order to be able to afford them for me” and “listing
in a notebook every single expense, from a baguette to the smallest school
supply, saving a few pennies whenever possible.” These stories are likely to
resonate with readers angry over the rising cost of living and insufficient
wage growth in France, especially at a time when the government is looking to
slash public spending to address its massive deficit.
Throughout
the book, Bardella restates ad nauseam his admiration for Le Pen, clearly
aiming to dispel any speculation that he might challenge her leadership.
“It’s hard
to take credit when you’re traveling with someone the French know and respect,”
he writes, reflecting on the 2019 European election campaign when Le Pen
entrusted him with leading the National Rally’s list to victory at the age of
23. “Wherever she goes, Marine arouses interest and emotion.”
“She’s a
rock star,” Bardella wrote.
That “rock
star,” however, is accused of embezzling millions of euros in European
Parliament funds along with 24 other current and former National Rally
officials. They allegedly used the money to pay staffers for domestic political
work instead of their assigned roles as Parliamentary assistants in Brussels
and Strasbourg.
The evidence
against Le Pen and her co-defendants is abundant, including the almost total
absence of these assistants in Brussels and the lack of communication between
them and the MEPs for whom they supposedly worked. Le Pen, a seasoned public
speaker, has managed to keep her composure during the trial and when discussing
the case with the media.
She’s even
following the example of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, framing the charges
as politically motivated. Last week she told the court that “millions of French
people would be deprived of their presidential candidate” if she were barred
from running.
Not true,
Conservative heavyweight Xavier Bertrand hit back in a radio interview on
Thursday. “Let’s stop calling this a denial of democracy, as if the RN
[National Rally] wouldn’t be able to field a candidate. They have an
alternative candidate, his name is Jordan Bardella, who is just waiting [for
the right moment],” he said.
The
opportunity is, theoretically, ripe for Bardella to strike.
But for
Jean-Yves Camus, a specialist on the far right at the Jean-Jaurès Foundation,
any public attempt by Bardella to overthrow Le Pen would be “suicidal” given
her standing among her peers and the poor track record of those who have
previously attempted far-right leadership coups in France.
“Bardella
has time on his side,” he added. “He’s scoring points in the current situation,
releasing his book while at the same time avoiding the legal troubles facing
his party. Without saying that all he has to do is wait and see, if she’s
barred from running, he’s already on the starting line.”
Amid the
growing speculation about his future, Bardella himself is carefully holding the
party line and casting the trial as a witch hunt. “The prosecutors’ office is
not set on justice. It is set on relentlessness and revenge in regard to Marine
Le Pen,” he tweeted.
Friends not
foes
Both
privately and publicly, National Rally officials reject the premise that
Bardella and Le Pen are on a collision course.
“The party
base and elected representatives support Marine, [and] all other individual
initiatives are welcome to the extent that they help on that path,” said a
high-ranking parliamentarian close to Le Pen, who was granted anonymity to
speak candidly.
According to
another lawmaker who was also granted anonymity to speak freely, Bardella’s
popularity can “help reach new voters, especially younger ones” but “does not
call into question the system [as it is] currently set up.”
Bardella led
the National Rally to victory in the past two European elections but fell short
in his bid to become prime minister following last summer’s snap legislative
elections, in which the National Rally finished third despite polling that had
suggested it could win an absolute majority.
The party
remains committed to what Bardella describes as an “American-style ticket,”
with Le Pen as the “natural candidate in the presidential election” and
Bardella as prime minister.
Mean,
name-calling journalists
Bardella’s
book serves as a continued effort to market himself as a polished,
well-mannered, and ambitious figure — an image that has made him one of
France’s most popular politicians, but has also led critics to describe him as
a sort of French Manchurian candidate.
Bardella
recognizes that the press has a “fundamental role” in scrutinizing the actions
of decision-makers, himself included. But he says that media portrayals that
depict him as, in his words, “a cyborg, cold and calculating, Machiavellian and
power-hungry” politician with no substance, go beyond the “healthy limits” of
public debate.
Bolloré-owned
and other right-wing media have so far praised the book. Le Journal du Dimanche
called it an “editorial gambit” in which “Bardella reveals his complex nature.”
However, Le Monde, France’s newspaper of record, criticized it as a “marketing
object” that lacked substance in a review written by a political reporter.
Few actual
literary critics bothered to review Bardella’s book, and the author said he
expected it would not be praised for the quality of its prose.
“I can
already hear my critics. They will judge this book to be ‘mediocre,’
‘indigestible,'” he writes in the final pages.
The book is
indeed weighed down by pompous and stilted phrasing, but Bardella was likely
not seeking literary acclaim. While he travels across France and Europe to
promote his work, his end game lies at home in Paris with the future of the
French National Assembly.
The
fragmented state of France’s lower house of parliament means new elections are
likely next year. The National Rally, which has provided passive support to
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government, plays a kingmaker role and
could trigger new elections by switching to a confrontational stance.
Until then,
Bardella’s book gives him a platform to remain in the public eye and continue
building his case for a future leadership role.
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