Leaking ship
The very existence of the Mediapart report worries the leading duo of the National Rally, whose relations have been strained since a surprise July ruling opened the way for Le Pen to run for president. Bardella, who had been his party’s “Plan B” candidate, visibly had difficulty getting behind his boss because he had to once again become his main supporter.
“This is not the work of political opponents,” said Gaspard Gantzer, a political communications consultant close to former President François Hollande, alluding to the source of the leak, which is based on internal discussions. “That means there’s some internal score-settling going on…and that doesn’t bode well for them.”
According to two senior officials close to her, Le Pen and her entourage were unaware of the ongoing journalistic investigation. “I hadn’t heard anything about it,” one told POLITICO.
The candidate seemed taken aback when questioned on the subject on the sidelines of the construction fair on Monday. Visibly annoyed and using strong language, she denounced it as “madness” and “pure madness”, insisting that she did not believe it “at all”.
Le Pen said Bardella would be her prime minister if elected, but speculation was already rife within the party over whether the current National Rally list would hold before the news broke.
“If I were Jordan Bardella, I wouldn’t feel very safe right now,” Gantzer said.
Gn world
