Publicly, the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) swears it has cut its ties with the most radical far-right. Behind the scenes, however, the party founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen still has links with a number of groups advocating violent action or promoting racialist theories. These ties persist even within the very heart of the place where the party is pursuing its de-demonizing strategy: the Assemblée Nationale.

For his second term as MP, Philippe Schreck has recruited Rafael Ferron to work with him. The newspaper Libération revealed on Thursday, September 26, that Ferron is more unfavorably known as Raphaël Ayma, the alias under which he holds the position of "spokesperson" for the identitarian association Tenesoun, which grew out of the dissolution of the revolutionary nationalist movement Bastion Social in 2019.

Drawing its inspiration from identitarian and royalist groups, this organization from the Provence region of southeastern France claims to fight "against the 'Great Replacement' [a racist conspiracy theory popularized by French writer Renaud Camus] and the great erasement that endangers the very existence of our people." Part of the neo-fascist parade organized every year in Paris by the extreme right-wing group Comité du 9 mai ("May 9 Committee"), Tenesoun considers itself a far cry from "political scientist demagoguery and obsolete [political] parties." That is with the exception of the RN, it seems.

When contacted by Le Monde, Schreck replied that he "didn't have time" to answer. He told the magazine L'Obs that Ferron plans to file a "libel suit" stating: "We're going to make Libération pay legally," and further adding that "the Left is a mental illness."

The far-right party does not intend to let the courts decide the fate of his parliamentary assistant. Le Monde has learned that the group's management, through its Secretary General Renaud Labaye, has made Schreck cut ties with Ferron as soon as possible. The RN, eager to normalize itself, cannot afford public associations with radical groups, which are traditional breeding grounds for future RN members.