2027 Presidential Race: Jordan Bardella's Book Promotion Sparks Controversy and Outlines France's Far-Right Campaign

Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally (RN), is preparing to assume the office of French Prime Minister. In his newly released book published this week, titled "Gouverner" (To Govern), the right-wing leader outlines an action plan for his first "hundred days" at Matignon, should Marine Le Pen win the upcoming presidential election. Speaking Tuesday evening on TF1, Bardella stated, "I am preparing to be head of government," despite the ongoing controversy triggered by Mediapart's revelations regarding writings attributed to him in his youth containing antisemitic content.

Media Boycott and Tensions at Paris Launch

On Wednesday evening, the Bolloré-owned publishing house Fayard hosted an event at the Salle Wagram in Paris to launch Bardella's third book in two years. However, the event was marred by severe tensions after a Mediapart journalist was denied entry, despite the launch being open to the media. Victor Chabert, the party's press service director, justified the decision by claiming the gathering was a private event for which the journalist was not accredited. This prompted the majority of attending journalists to walk out in protest, with the exception of media outlets belonging to the Bolloré Group. For his part, Bardella responded dismissively on X, posting a satirical meme indicating his indifference to the incident.

The confrontation recalled events during the party's congress in Orléans on October 24 and 25, when party security personnel twice forcibly ejected Mediapart journalists, as well as expelled activists from the Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF) who raised a banner condemning what they described as antisemitism as Bardella took the stage. Nevertheless, veteran party figure Jean-Lin Lacapelle downplayed the impact of these controversies on Le Pen's campaign, describing them as an orchestrated tempest that predictably resurfaces ahead of major elections.

Poll Figures and Book Sales

On the polling front, Bardella recorded a slight decline following the Mediapart reports. An Ifop-Fiducial poll conducted for Paris Match and Sud Radio in early October showed a five-point drop, bringing his favorable ratings to 41%. Despite this, he remains one of France’s most favored political figures, following his reelection as party leader with nearly 98.98% of the vote at the Orléans congress. Concurrently, Marine Le Pen continues to dominate presidential voting intentions, polling consistently between 35% and 37%.

Bardella faced challenging questions from journalists during promotional appearances on TF1 and RTL regarding these allegations, while around 15 activists from the "Nous vivrons" (We Will Live) collective demonstrated outside Salle Wagram to denounce his alleged past. In an appendix added to the end of his book, Bardella hit back against what he termed a "ferocious political and media campaign directed against him." His new release immediately climbed to fourth place on Amazon's bestseller list, continuing the momentum of his previous two books, which have collectively sold over 300,000 copies.