Did the National Action doubt Marine Le Pen during the presidential campaign?

Did Jordan Bardella, in November 2021, agree to convince Marine Le Pen to give up the presidential election in favor of Eric Zemore, in case of bad polls? This is the story of Jérôme Riviere, who at the time was a National Action (RN) campaign actor and leader of the Le Penist MEPs. The accusation did not sit well with the president of the RN, whose solidity and loyalty are questionable: he announced the filing of a defamation complaint in the European Parliament against his former colleague, denouncing the allegations. “completely false”.

Jerome Riviere joined Eric Zemore’s campaign in January, but had been preparing for it since November, as he writes in his book. Zemur, come! (Editions du Rocher, 200 pages, €16.90) Published March 15. He narrates the scene as follows: On November 6, 2021, in the office of the town hall of Perpignan with Louis Aliot and Jordan Bardella – the three men held a meeting with the press that morning – suggests Jérôme Riviere. “Honestly ask yourself when you will have to tell the Marines to stop”. Polls put the two far-right candidates neck and neck.

“If I have to talk to him, I will.”

According to a reference provided by Jerome Riviere, Jordan Bardella, like Louis Aliot, initially dismissed the candidate “disconnect” hypothesis. Faced with the insistence of the future Zemourian, the president of the RN (then acting) admits: “If I have to talk to him, I will. It won’t be easy. » Still according to this story, which he asserts, he appreciates that “Six points behind is dead and can only go down”. Louis Aliot argues before qualification: “But that will never happen. » which will be verified.

Mayor of Perpignan, which he joined the worldAlso does not remember the scene. “I have never heard these terms. We could clearly see Riviere start screwing Zemor, everyone being extremely cautious with him. We tried to channel him with Jordan Bardella and told him that he was very influenced by polls. »

Still, Marine Le Pen’s campaign at the time was going through a period of hesitation and doubt about Eric Zemore’s candidacy, as other executives and pitching meetings today confirm. A sign of a double game by some, according to Jérôme Riviere of Horace Notes, the anonymous advisory group responsible for developing the candidate’s program, came to Eric Zemore’s campaign in other ways.