As a result of the snap elections, the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party could have gone from 88 to 126 MPs in the Assemblée Nationale, but representative Daniel Grenon was excluded from the group photo on Wednesday, July 10. He was reprimanded and made an example of after comments suggesting that French citizens who also have a North African nationality should not be appointed as ministers.
The political party will have to be more lenient with other newly elected members, such as Florence Joubert, who believes an "Arab" cannot be considered French and who vilifies "climate manipulators" and "the evil" US philanthropist George Soros. Similarly, René Lioret has posted numerous racist and anti-Covid-19 vaccination messages on Facebook. The RN plans to establish a conflicts commission, though the date is unknown. RN President Jordan Bardella promised that "all those who make comments that are not in line with [his] beliefs will be kicked out." The commission will determine what is or what is not offensive to the far-right leader.
Lioret, a member of the RN since the days of its founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, felt that "we didn't put the candidates from the other side through as much [scrutiny]." However, he kept a low profile on Wednesday morning at the Assemblée. The same went for Roger Chudeau, who was publicly rebuked by Marine Le Pen for reigniting the controversy over banning jobs for people with dual nationality. Chadeau, who previously argued that Najat Vallaud-Belkacem should not have been a minister due to her French-Moroccan heritage, was less keen than before on stepping into the spotlight. However, there's no question that he is still considered valuable to the RN. "Roger Chudeau's comments weren't racist, they just weren't in line with the RN," said Jean-Philippe Tanguy, a member of the group's executive committee.
As in the previous two years, the first group meeting is an opportunity to set the record straight. RN lawmakers are forbidden to express a "personal opinion." Le Pen has also made it clear that the results from Sunday, July 7, cannot be described as a failure, despite her initial confidence in winning an absolute majority. "Those who, for 48 hours, have been talking about a defeat in the legislative elections, [as] I told some of you: let the dust settle," she told her troops, according to an excerpt broadcast by French television channel BFM-TV. The message was directed at the first person to mention an electoral "defeat": Jordan Bardella.
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