Jordan Bardella, president of the Rassemblement National, was assaulted on Saturday in Moissac by a septuagenarian who crushed an egg on his head during a book signing session. The suspect's custody was extended by 24 hours on Sunday, as the Interior Minister firmly condemned the act. Bardella denounces a brutalization of democratic debate and points to the far left.
On Saturday, during a book signing session for his book What the French Want in Moissac, Tarn-et-Garonne, Jordan Bardella was assaulted by Jean-Paul M., a 74-year-old retired farmer from Castelsarrasin. The man, in the waiting line, jumped on the RN president and crushed an egg on his head, described as a 'punch with an egg' by his entourage. Bardella was unharmed and resumed the session, but a complaint was filed on behalf of the RN.
This is not the first time Jean-Paul M. has targeted far-right figures. On March 12, 2022, he had already aimed at Éric Zemmour during a campaign in Moissac, justifying his act by Zemmour's positions on autistic children – his son being one – and receiving a 500-euro suspended fine. A few weeks later, in April 2022, he threw eggs at Marine Le Pen's campaign bus in the department, without charges.
The gendarmerie arrested the perpetrator for 'violence against a person holding public authority without incapacity.' On Sunday, the Montauban prosecutor's office extended his custody by 24 hours to establish the facts and check if he participated in the nearby anti-RN rally. According to his lawyer Me Rachel Lheureux, Jean-Paul M. is not a militant and acts for personal reasons.
Appearing on CNews in L'Heure des pros, Bardella reacted: 'I am extremely worried to see an increasingly violent climate settling in our country, a brutalization of democratic debate.' He denounced 'those who strike' and 'those who legitimize, banalize violence,' targeting the far left and La France Insoumise, and expressed surprise at the 'great silence' from politicians like Gabriel Attal or Jean-Luc Mélenchon, noting reactions from Sarah Knafo and Raphaël Glucksmann. 'Today it's me, tomorrow it will be them,' he warned.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez 'very firmly' condemned this 'unacceptable act of intimidation' on BFMTV, calling for caution in public discourse to avoid inciting violence. Sébastien Chenu and Louis Aliot from the RN also attributed the aggression to left-wing rhetoric. Thomas Portes (LFI) ironized without explicitly condemning, stating that the response comes through the ballot box.
This incident follows four days after Bardella was floured on Tuesday at the Vesoul fair, with a 17-year-old minor placed in custody then released with a citizenship training course.
