Leader of the pro-Russian radical party “National Rally” (RN) in France, Jordan Bardella, on November 29 held an autograph session in Mauzac, near Toulouse. An unknown person approached the politician and smashed an egg on his head. The attacker was detained, according to BFMTV.
Bardella presented the book “What the French Want” in this town. A protest against him and his RN party was taking place nearby.
During the autograph session, a 74-year-old man approached Bardella and smashed an egg on his head. The police detained the attacker. The Montauban prosecutor’s office said they had opened an investigation into the article on “violent acts against a person holding public office”.
Jordan Bardella commented on the incident: he said he “feels well” and resumed the autograph session after a break.
After the autograph session, Bardella spoke about how the incident was covered in the media. He stated that his “Islamophobic remarks” are not the cause of the attack, because in France people are killed over Islamophobia.
“A BFMTV columnist justifies my attack with my “harsh” and “Islamophobic” political remarks. Does she know that in our country people have died after accusations of “Islamophobia”? What exactly is she up to?”
– Jordan Bardella
Context and Reaction
This is not the first attack on Bardella this week: on November 25, a 17-year-old boy attacked him and showered him with flour in the middle of the street in the town of Vesoul.
Jordan Bardella is a French politician, leader of the “National Rally” party and a member of the European Parliament for France. He took the helm of RN after leader Marine Le Pen became implicated in a corruption case. Bardella is known for his anti-immigrant and Islamophobic remarks, opposes the so-called “punitive” environmental policy, and supports the industrialization of France.
The “National Rally” is a pro-Russian radical French political force. In the past, the party received funds from Russian banks for its election campaigns. Former party leader Marine Le Pen openly supported Russia’s occupation of Crimea and Russia’s war against Ukraine in the territories of Luhansk and Donetsk in 2014. Le Pen called Ukraine a “puppet of the EU and the US,” and the leader of Russia, Putin, a “defender of traditional Christian values”.