As the deadline for the European elections approaches, the “Bardella phenomenon” once again seems to go beyond the borders of France. Already in 2019, the young man intrigued the international press. “The child from the suburbs who put Le Pen back on track,” was the headline in the Italian daily Corriere della serra. Since then, the colt has been propelled to the head of the National Rally (RN), “the first party in France”, according to the formula of the frontists. According to the latest polls, her list is at more than 30%, far behind that of Valérie Hayer (Renaissance), who is close to 20% of voting intentions. And at only 28 years old, the young hope of the nationalists ranks among the 50 favorite personalities of the French, according to the barometer of the Sunday Newspaper.
Abroad as in France, the dazzling pace of his rise fascinates as much as it questions. In Switzerland, the RTS depicts the president of the Frontist party as the “new idol of young French people”. The German liberal-conservative daily Die Welt goes even further, not hesitating to invoke biblical references: Jordan Bardella? “He is young, intelligent, and currently looks like he can walk on water in the eyes of his supporters.”
“The child prodigy of the right (who) imitates Chirac and overshadows Le Pen,” adds La Repubblica. In the foreign press, the term “Bardella-mania” is regularly cited, as in La Stampa. The transalpine periodical, however, qualifies: “‘Bardellism’ does not yet exist.” The fact remains that his youth, his dexterity and his popularity have largely helped the RN to get a makeover. “He is the face of the normalization of the French extreme right,” insists La Repubblica.
Yesterday the son of an immigrant, today a “Macron-style entrepreneur”
Jordan Bardella, centerpiece of the effort to demonize the French far right? A lure for El País. The president of the RN carries the “stale speech of always”. “The strategy of the young hawk, son of an immigrant, seems to be working, since his popularity continues to grow in the polls,” concedes the Spanish daily.
La Repubblica looks back in particular on his social origins: “His mother Luisa was born in Turin and emigrated with her husband in the 1980s to Drancy, a working-class and disadvantaged suburb to the north of the capital”. Now a European MP in the process of being re-elected, Jordan Bardella would dream of looking like Emmanuel Macron, according to El País. “His image as a modern and dynamic man, […] as a defender of AI and the world of techis far from the dusty ideal of the RN leader.
Beyond Quiévrain, the RTBF sees in Jordan Bardella a French Tom Van Grieken (the boss of the Belgian nationalist party Vlaams Belang). Sporting the head of an “ideal son-in-law”, the two men would have contributed to “a sort of smoothing of far-right discourse”, estimates RTBF. For its part, Bild is passionate about the “duel of the year”. The one that pits the “mini-Macron against the little Le Pen” in the European election. Understanding Gabriel Attal against Jordan Bardella, assimilated to “two movie stars” by the German tabloid.
A “future head of state”?
An image far removed from that of Valérie Hayer. THE Daily Telegraph understood it well, the head of the Macronist list suffers from a lack of notoriety. “Some people wonder whether a little-known politician like Ms. Hayer could have a chance against the highly publicized Jordan Bardella,” underlines the British daily. Even more so, when the president of the RN is […] considered as a future head of state in a country increasingly to the right”, recalls the Daily Telegraph. A little music that echoes Gavin Mortimer’s hypothesis. In the columns of Spectator, the British writer believes that “the puppet [NDLR : Jordan Bardella] could well turn against his master [NDLR : Marine Le Pen] by the 2027 elections,” he evades…
A hypothesis that is all the more plausible given that Jordan Bardella has a certain number of assets, long sought after within the far-right party founded in 1972. Firstly, “the oratorical talent” which Marine Le does not possess. Pen, Judge Gavin Mortimer. According to him, the leader of the RN deputies is “a poor communicator and a timid politician”. “She tends to become irritable and sarcastic during interviews, while Bardella is coolly confident. He is suave and well-dressed, aware of the importance of image to the average French voter,” observes the British author.
Deusio, the privilege of youth. His main “difference with Marine and Jean-Marie le Pen”, observes There Stampa. Third, Jordan Bardella is not a Le Pen. Enough to put an end to internal nepotism, which is subject to criticism. Quickly said. Because if the French press does not pay much attention to the private life of the young nationalist wolf, the foreign media seem to be interested in his supposed relationship with the niece of Marine Le Pen, Nolwenn Olivier. “The Le Pen family would thus have twice as much power”, slips the German tabloid Bild. The British daily The Guardian also warns: Jordan Bardella constitutes “an imminent danger”.