Emmanuel Macron at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 24, 2018. Credit: World Economic Forum / Sikarin Thanachaiary, CC BY 2.0.
From Madrid, Emmanuel Macron condemned on Wednesday, September 30 the antisemitic remarks attributed to Jordan Bardella by Mediapart. The president of the National Rally (RN) disputes their authenticity. By asking the party to clarify its position, the head of state also raises the question of its political responsibility. Bardella counters with his commitments after October 7, 2023, in a debate shaped by the 2027 presidential election.
A Request Addressed To RN Leaders
On a state visit to Spain, Emmanuel Macron described the reported remarks as “extremely serious and unacceptable.” In his statement of September 30, he asks RN leaders to clarify the party’s line, the words used, and the place of people likely to make such remarks.
In that same statement, the head of state presents the fight against antisemitism as a fundamental requirement of the Republic. His call for clarification therefore also concerns the party’s positions, beyond the dispute between Mediapart and Jordan Bardella over the origin of the messages.
2013 Conversations At The Heart Of The Dispute
In its investigation published on September 28, Mediapart attributes to the RN leader private exchanges dating from the summer of 2013, when he was a young activist in the National Front. Jordan Bardella denies being their author and calls them “blatant fakes” in his denial published the same day.
The outlet says it authenticated the conversations and collected testimony. In its follow-up investigation on October 1, it says it will publish the documents and detail its authentication method. According to the original investigation, the messages repeat antisemitic theories portraying Jews as controlling banks and public authorities.
Jordan Bardella accuses the newspaper of trying to destabilize the presidential campaign. After announcing on X that he was instructing his lawyer to take legal action, he said on the evening of September 28 on CNews that a defamation lawsuit had been filed, according to an AFP dispatch.
The Paris March And Israel, Two Separate Facts
In his response of September 30, Jordan Bardella writes: “After October 7, 2023, I walked the streets of Paris, and I went to Israel. He did not.”
These two references call for a distinction. Jordan Bardella took part in the anti-antisemitism march on November 12, 2023, in Paris, organized at the initiative of the presidents of the National Assembly and the Senate. Emmanuel Macron did not take part, as AFP notes.
The RN president also went to Israel in March 2025, according to the timeline recalled by AFP. But Emmanuel Macron had also traveled to the country after the October 7 attacks. The official Élysée archive documents his presence on October 24, 2023, with meetings with families of victims and Israeli leaders. Absence from the Paris march therefore does not mean absence of a visit to Israel.
In this brief message of September 30, Bardella is therefore invoking his public actions against antisemitism. He provides no additional information about the 2013 exchanges or clarification on the RN line requested by Emmanuel Macron.