Accusations of anti-Semitism: A majority of French people do not believe Bardella but RN voters ready to give in

A case which does not destabilize the electoral base of the RN. If the French in general are significantly more numerous to believe Mediapart rather than Jordan Bardella, in the affair of the anti-Semitic remarks attributed to him, 87% of RN voters are ready to grant him the excuse of age. Only 4% of them could reconsider their vote in the future, according to a survey published Thursday.

According to the online survey, carried out from October 7 to 9 among a representative sample of 1,271 people by the Cluster 17 institute for Marianne, 91% of those questioned said they had “heard about the affair concerning private messages presented as anti-Semitic and attributed by Mediapart to Jordan Bardella when he was 17 years old”.

Nearly two thirds of French people consider that the RN conveys racist ideas

Asked about the two opposing versions, 56% of French people give more credibility to Mediapart. Conversely, only 18% consider Jordan Bardella's version to be the most credible. This judgment is, however, extremely dependent on political preferences: 63% of RN voters give more credit to Jordan Bardella.

Assuming that the messages were authentic, 50% of French people consider that the fact that Jordan Bardella was 17 years old at the time does not constitute an excuse, compared to 46% (87% of RN voters) who consider on the contrary that it is one.

A black point, however, for the far-right party, the survey highlights the persistence of a negative image on these issues. Nearly two thirds of French people (64%) consider that the RN conveys racist ideas and 57% believe that it conveys anti-Semitic ideas.