Leaky ship The very existence of the Mediapart report is a cause for concern for the National Rally’s leading duo, whose relationship has been strained since a surprise court ruling in July cleared the way for Le Pen to run for president. Bardella, who had been his party’s “Plan B” candidate, has visibly struggled to fall back in line behind his boss as he once again had to be his number one supporter. “This was not the work of political opponents,” said Gaspard Gantzer, a political communications consultant close to former President François Hollande, hinting at the source of the leak, which is based on internal conversations. “That means there’s an internal reckoning… and that doesn’t bode well for them.” According to two senior officials close to her, Le Pen and her inner circle were unaware of the ongoing journalistic investigation. “I hadn’t heard anything about it,” one of them told POLITICO. The candidate seemed surprised on Monday when asked about this topic at the construction fair. Visibly upset and using strong language, she denounced it as “madness” and “pure madness,” insisting that she did not believe it “at all.” Le Pen has said that Bardella would be her prime minister if elected, but there was already much speculation within the party about whether the current National Rally formula would hold before the news broke. “If I were Jordan Bardella, I wouldn’t feel very safe right now,” Gantzer said.
