guest of Presidential mornings from franceinfo on April 19, Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally and supporter of Marine Le Pen in the presidential election, answered questions from Salhia Brakhlia and Marc Fauvelle for an hour, as well as from franceinfo listeners.
Jordan Bardella notably returned to the ban on the veil in public spaces, “an objective” but “not a priority”, and on the measures of the Rassemblement national program in favor of purchasing power. Here’s what to remember.
Marine Le Pen does not back down “at all” on the ban on the wearing of the veil
While the RN candidate declared on Saturday April 16 that her controversial measure banning the veil in the street would be debated in the National Assembly, Jordan Bardella affirms it: this remains “an objective”. But that’s not “not a priority” for the president of the National Rally. “The priority is to limit immigration which has become out of control and which is the breeding ground for communitarianism.”
According to RN MEP, “there will be no age distinction”. Remarks which contradict those made by the spokesman of the RN, Sébastien Chenu made a few days earlier. “The French woman is free, the French woman does not have to veil her head to express a political claim, at least in the public space”assured Jordan Bardella again.
Veil ban: a difference according to age? ➡ “There will be no age distinction”, assures the president of the National Gathering. “There will be a law passed by Parliament. The veil no longer has the same meaning today as it did a few years ago.” pic.twitter.com/2yUEAnoeNW
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) April 19, 2022
Other religious symbols are not concerned
Relaunched on an extension of the ban to other religious signs in the public space, the president of the National Rally indicated that the beard, the djellaba or the yarmulke were not affected by the measure. “The yarmulke is not a tool for Islamist fundamentalists to claim. Our mission is to fight Islamist fundamentalism”defended Jordan Bardella. “The priority is Islamism.”
Animal welfare to justify the end of ritual slaughter
The president of the Rassemblement defended the supervision of the religious ritual slaughter of animals. “The meat that will be slaughtered on French territory will be slaughtered with prior stunning in the name of animal dignity and animal suffering“, he justifies. The import of kosher or halal meat from other countries will however be authorized, he specifies.
On the subject of animal welfare, there is no question of banning bullfighting or hunting: “There are certain traditions which are cultural traditions, which have been French traditions, European traditions for several years“, according to Jordan Bardella. He is also not in favor of a ban on hunting on weekends, but believes that there are still “very large regulatory efforts to be made, particularly in the distribution of domains [parce que] very often hunting areas are also leisure areas, especially for families who want to go for walks on weekends and I think there is a subject to open with the actors around the table”.
The national priority for social aid
“We want to add national priority to the constitution, that is to say that in access to employment or housing with equal skills, on equal conditions, there will be priority that will be given to French citizens”said Jordan Bardella. “This will be part of the referendum on immigration that we will vote on”he said, also recalling the wish of the RN to “remove the automatic acquisition of French nationality” if you are born on French soil.
The RSA would thus become “conditional on five years of full-time work on French territory“. For HLMs, there would be a “principle” : “Vou are French, you have priority access to HLM”assured the president of the RN.
Measures for the wealthy?
Asked about the income tax exemption desired by Marine Le Pen for those under 30, when more than half of these young people already do not pay this tax, Jordan Bardella admitted that this would favor the youngest affluent. “There are other measures for young people starting out in life”citing the reduction in VAT on energy or the abolition of this tax on several basic necessities.
More broadly, when he was questioned about inheritance and taxes, the president of the RN rejected the accusations of an economic program in favor of the richest. “We are going to allow all business leaders to increase salaries by 10%” without this increase being subject to employers’ contributions, he specified.
Measures for the wealthy? ➡️ Jordan Bardella defends himself from measures planned for the richest and lists, among other things, “price blocking” of basic necessities, the “doubling of aid for single-parent families”.
https://t.co/cEwi3c61QM pic.twitter.com/6O2i42LZoq
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) April 19, 2022
The RN’s economic program “is a matter of total incompetence”
Franceinfo listener Liazid accused the RN program of being “insincere“: “It is totally incompetent“, accused the listener. “I would be rather worried to see Emmanuel Macron re-elected for the French economy. The measures you cite are common sense measures”replied Jordan Bardella. Relive the sequence on video.
Liazid accuses the RN program of being insincere: “it is a matter of total incompetence” ➡️ “I would be rather worried to see Emmanuel Macron re-elected for the French economy. The measures you cite are common sense measures”, replies J. Bardella. pic.twitter.com/LiGHPg4OhA
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) April 19, 2022
Find below the entire 8:30 a.m. franceinfo presidential special with Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally.