How Le Pen and the far-right plan to treat the people they brand ‘French but only on paper’

The National Rally’s ple include a referendum that nods to the ‘great replacement’ conspiracy theory and a ban on dual nationals holding some jobs

'A slip of the tongue': Jordan Bardella, president of National Rally, left, with party leader Marine Le Pen. Photo: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg

Corentin Lesueur

For a political leader as confident in communication as Jordan Bardella, a slip of the tongue is never insignificant. Especially when uttered twice in the same minute. Eager to dispel “caricatures” of his policy platform, the president of the French far-right National Rally party declared on TV on June 14 that “French people of foreign origin or nationality” had “nothing to fear from the policy I want to implement,” were he to become prime minister after France’s snap election, the first round of which takes place on Sunday. That’s provided, he added, that they “work, pay their taxes, pay their contributions, respect the law and love our country”.

French of foreign origin? “I think he slipped up, it can happen, we’re a bit exhausted,” said his party leader Marine Le Pen. Asked about his own words during a visit to the Loiret region, Bardella avoided the subject, saying that answering was unlikely to “raise the level of debate”. However, the expression, a favourite of the French far right, has never put him off.