"I asked him to prepare": Marine Le Pen considers Jordan Bardella's candidacy in 2027 for the first time

She assures that she continues "to fight." Marine Le Pen "asked" Jordan Bardella "to prepare" for the "possibility" of being a candidate in the 2027 presidential election if she herself were prevented from doing so, a "hypothesis" that the leader of the National Rally says she has "integrated," in an interview published Wednesday, June 25, in Valeurs actuelles.

"I have accepted the possibility that I might not be able to run. Jordan (Bardella) has accepted the possibility that he might have to take over. I myself have asked him to think about and prepare for this eventuality," assures the Pas-de-Calais MP, who was sentenced to a five-year ban from election at the end of March , effective immediately.

A second trial is scheduled to take place in the coming months before the Paris Court of Appeal, which has indicated that it will deliver its decision "in the summer of 2026." "Until then, I continue to fight. Of course, the situation is not ideal. But what else do you suggest? That I commit suicide before being assassinated?" asks Marine Le Pen.

The unsuccessful three-time presidential candidate had until now dismissed a Bardella candidacy for the Élysée in 2027 as a purely theoretical possibility, bordering on incongruity.

"If I were to be run over by a truck tomorrow, well, (Jordan Bardella) would obviously be the person who would replace me," she had simply admitted, full of irony, at the end of April. A certain amount of uncertainty ensued between the two leaders for several weeks.

Marine Le Pen betrayed her irritation last month by saying she was "not sure that Jordan, for once, is very familiar with the problems in New Caledonia," during a trip to Noumea. From Paris, the person concerned then tried to downplay the remarks, seeing them as a comment that he said was "taken out of context"... while insisting that he, too, is "very familiar" with the overseas issues.

A joint meeting in early June, followed by a side-by-side visit last week to the Paris Air Show, was intended to reestablish the image of a united, complementary, even interchangeable "duo." But if she were unable to compete in 2027, Marine Le Pen argues that the election would then "obviously" appear illegitimate.

"I think our opponents and most observers underestimate the anger that could erupt among a large number of voters if I were to be prevented from running by the courts," she said, predicting that "many French people, beyond their political beliefs, would then understand that the rules of the game had been manipulated."

In addition to the ineligibility sentence, the Paris Criminal Court sentenced Marine Le Pen to four years in prison, two of which were suspended, after she was found guilty of setting up a "system" of embezzlement of public funds to pay party employees with European Parliament money between 2004 and 2016, amounting to €4.4 million.