Xavier Bertrand, president of Hauts-de-France, has sharply criticized Jordan Bardella, leader of the Rassemblement national, accusing him of amateurism and lacking experience for the 2027 presidential election. Speaking on Radio J this Sunday, he called Bardella 'hollow' and unfit to lead France. This attack fits into his firm opposition to the RN.
While promoting his book Rien n’est jamais écrit (Robert Laffont, 2025), Xavier Bertrand targets Jordan Bardella, who polls at around 35% in the first round of the 2027 presidential election according to recent surveys. The president of Hauts-de-France, a staunch advocate of a strict cordon sanitaire between the right and the RN, denounces political apathy in the face of the young nationalist leader's rise.
Appearing on Radio J this Sunday, November 9, 2025, Bertrand downplays the hype: “We are one and a half years from the presidential election...”, claiming to be one of the few daring to say he does not take Bardella seriously. “Everyone is scared. Since he's high in the polls, people think 'he might be the winner, no one dares say he's hollow',” he stated.
He differentiates Bardella from Marine Le Pen, whom he defeated in the 2015 regional elections: “We saw what she gave in the two presidential debates, but she worked her files,” unlike Bardella who “has not worked his files, he just repeated them.” At 30 years old, Bardella “knows nothing about the issues, knows nothing about life,” Bertrand mocks, ridiculing the RN's arguments about his 'summer jobs' as proof of competence for a country of 68 million people, the world's seventh power.
The attack drew RN responses: MP Laure Lavalette called it “vulgar, pretentious, and aggressive,” while Sébastien Chenu counters by attributing the current situation to Bertrand, as head of his region or in past governments.
Bertrand, who beat the RN in 2015 and 2021, also mocks the supposed Bardella-Le Pen rivalry: “He supports Madame Le Pen like the rope supports the hanged man, he's already writing her off.”