He arrived half an hour late, and left half an hour early. This Thursday, April 25, Jordan Bardella provoked the anger of journalists who came to attend the press conference organized at the headquarters of the National Rally (RN), a stone's throw from the Parc des Princes (in the 16th arrondissement of Paris).
Scheduled to start at snack time, the meeting to present the Lepenist party's European project did not begin until five o'clock; above all, at the end of his speech, the president of the RN took off, leaving his campaign director Alexandre Loubet to answer the journalists' questions.
Enough to enrage the columnists: press conferences, unlike speeches or meetings, are almost systematically followed by an exchange with journalists. Furious, the latter assailed Loubet with recriminations. Uncomfortable, he justified Bardella's dodge by the fact that Emmanuel Macron's speech, a few hours earlier at the Sorbonne, had not been followed by questions either. This is the first time that the RN has declared that it is inspired by the Head of State…
Zero risk taking
Above all, Jordan Bardella's words are rare these days. Following the disclosure of an exchange in La Tribune Sunday in mid-March, the RN unilaterally made the decision to put an end to informal “off” exchanges with the press, as reported by L'Express. The head of the RN list largely prefers frequenting friendly media – like the site Boulevard Voltaire to whom he will give a “grand oral” this Thursday evening – or television shows, where his sense of repartee excels during short interviews.
As for the debates against the other candidates, Bardella also has strong tastes: he has so far boycotted all meetings opposing the heads of the list, preferring to send replacements (Thierry Mariani on Public Senate, Fabrice Leggeri on France 24, etc.) to fill in for him. Perhaps fearing the heavy fire from his opponents, the Drancéen prefers to fight in a duel with a single opponent, like on May 2 against Valérie Hayer on BFMTV, or like on April 12 against Raphaël Glucksmann on France Inter.
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There is no point in venting into corporatist laments: Jordan Bardella is not here to please journalists. His refusal to confront potentially uncomfortable contexts, on the other hand, reveals more. Was he embarrassed by the recent controversies surrounding the Mahorais candidate finally dismissed from the RN list, or of the ongoing conflict between his party and his German ally the AFD?
Far from the image of indestructible champion conveyed by his teams, swooning over the insolent success of “Jordan”, the young darling of Marine Le Pen actually seems aware of his weaknesses, and determined not to take any risk of lessening his considerable advance over other political forces.
Bardella, robotic candidate
His campaign is therefore revealed of a signal weakness on the merits: Jordan Bardella rattles off the elements of language concocted by the RN on the European Union, without appearing particularly transported by his own speeches. This Thursday, his nose in his files, sometimes stumbling over the words, the president of the RN laboriously recited his lesson, denouncing the “ post-national vision » by Emmanuel Macron to whom he calls to dissolve the Assembly in the event of defeat in the European elections of June 9, calling to build a “ new path to power » through a “ Europe which protects, which produces and which respects “.
Enough to rekindle questions around a political tenor sometimes described as an “empty shell”devoid of real convictions apart from the fundamentals of the RN on immigration and security.
Exit from free trade, cooperation “ common sense “, modification of the rules of the European energy market, fight against ” European bureaucracy ” And ” punitive ecology »… The project defended by Bardella is not absurd, but it oscillates between the vague and the reheated.
The proposals developed by the RN have little to do with the potential influence it will have in the European Parliament, even if it and its allies succeed on the evening of June 9. The RN already seems fully geared towards the 2027 presidential election, for which opinion polls show it the path to victory. But in the meantime, it will be complicated to spend three years saying nothing.
