Handpicked as leader by National Rally (RN) doyenne Marine Le Pen in an effort to purge the far-right party of its racist and antisemitic roots, Bardella has taken it closer to the gates of power than ever before.
Whether the RN forms a government and Bardella becomes prime minister after the July 7 runoff is not clear.
So, who is Bardella, and what might his party do in power?
Le Pen and Bardella address a crowd of RN supporters in Paris, after Macron called a snap election, June 9, 2024.
When the prime minister and president belong to different parties – in a rare arrangement known as “cohabitation” – things can grind to a halt.
Persons:
CNN — Jordan, –, Bardella, Emmanuel Macron’s, France’s, Denis, Le Pen, Le Pen’s, Louis Aliot, Le, Macron, Julien De Rosa, Freed, Jean, Marie Le Pen, Franco, Paris Anne Hidalgo, Luc Mélenchon, ” Bardella, Julien de Rosa, Gabriel Attal, ” Mujtaba Rahman, Mario Draghi, Giorgia Meloni, Benito Mussolini, Matteo Salvini, Vladimir Putin, Antonio Masiello, Hungary’s Viktor Orban –, Macron –
Organizations:
CNN, National Rally, National Assembly, Front, Sorbonne university, Getty, Macron’s Ensemble, Immigrants, Ministry of, Armed Forces, New Popular Front, EU, Eurasia Group, European Union
Locations:
Paris, France, Europe, Seine, Macron, AFP, Vichy, Spanish, Brussels, Italy, Ukraine, Kyiv, Russia