French right-wing leader gets egg thrown at head in second such attack in a week

A 70-year-old man smashed an egg on the head of Jordan Bardella, leader of the French right-wing party National Rally and a member of the European Parliament, during a book-signing session in southern France.

Bardella was promoting his new book “What the French Want” (Ce que veulent les Français) when the incident occurred, as reported by Le Figaro, citing the local gendarmerie report.

The elderly man approached him and broke an egg on his head, briefly interrupting the signing session. Bardella and his party have since filed a complaint against the man.

Responding later to the incident, Bardella wrote on X, "the further we progress, the closer we get to power, the more the violence of the far left, intolerance, and pure stupidity is unleashed."

Officers who arrived at the scene detained the man. He is being charged with “violence against a person holding public office, without causing injury.”

This marks the second attack on the National Rally leader in recent times. While walking through the aisles of an agricultural fair in Vesoul earlier this week, Bardella was covered in flour by a teenager, who was subsequently arrested and taken into custody before being released.

The court ruling barring the National Rally’s former leader, Marine Le Pen, from running in France’s 2027 presidential race has further thrust her right-hand man, Jordan Bardella, into the spotlight as he might become the party's candidate in the elections. Bardella became acting president of the National Rally after Le Pen resigned to run in the 2022 French presidential election.

Bardella maintains a strong social media presence, with 1.2 million followers on Instagram and 2.2 million on TikTok, attracting a youth following who identify with the young politician.

First elected to the European Parliament at age 23, Bardella emerged as the new face of the French far right last year after leading the RN’s European election campaign to unprecedented success. He then led the RN in France’s snap parliamentary elections, achieving a third-place finish.

By Nazrin Sadigova