The Rassemblement National (RN) has withdrawn its investiture from candidate Quentin Macullo for the Belfort municipal elections, following the revelation of controversial tweets about newborns' names. Aged 23, Macullo was designated last October but was flagged for a 2022 message deemed racist. This withdrawal is part of a series of disciplinary actions within the far-right party ahead of the March elections.
The Rassemblement National (RN) announced on Monday, February 9, 2026, the withdrawal of investiture from Quentin Macullo, a candidate in the Belfort municipal elections, confirming information from local radio Ici Belfort-Montbéliard. Designated in October 2025, this 23-year-old, head of the RN youth movement and number two in the Territoire de Belfort, has also been a parliamentary assistant to RN deputy Guillaume Bigot since summer 2024.
The decision follows the publication by Mediapart of a 2022 tweet in which Mr. Macullo stated that '72% of foreign-sounding names' appeared in the latest Belfort birth census, counting 18 out of 25 newborns listed in the June municipal bulletin. 'I didn't even count Elie and Samuel of Hebrew origin,' he added, a message seen as racist.
Despite a defense at the end of January by RN executive Jean-Philippe Tanguy, who deemed these statements 'not racist or antisemitic in themselves' after an audition, the party acted. RN president Jordan Bardella had stated earlier this year that investiture would be withdrawn for any 'undiscovered past' elements.
This case is not isolated: the RN recently took action in Condat-sur-Vienne against a candidate attributing the 1944 Oradour-sur-Glane massacre to 'nazified Ukrainians,' and in Carpentras against a former list head whose 2017 sexist and racist tweets were unearthed by Libération. During the 2024 legislative elections, dozens of RN candidates were flagged for racist social media posts, labeled 'scabby sheep' by Mr. Bardella, who insists on excluding those deviating from the party line.
