Strolling beneath sunlit skies, an impeccably-groomed young man is greeted by enthusiastic crowds of adoring supporters, chanting his name and calling out for selfies. Bodyguards in tow, he cheerfully poses for photos, signs autographs, even takes time out for an impromptu singalong. With his boy band good looks and dazzling dimpled smile, he mischievously swipes a pair of sunglasses from an unsuspecting, but star-struck, passerby.
This vignette of life on the road in rural France is accompanied by an uplifting cover of the Coldplay hit, Viva la Vida. A casual viewer could confuse it with a scene from a music video, but in reality, this is a campaign video for the rising star of the French far right. With 1.
6 million followers on TikTok, 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Rally, has the kind of social media following that most MEPs could only dream of. Among his most popular posts are short clips in which he is seen devouring bonbons, chomping down on hot dogs, or cuddling pet rabbits. In one video (viewed more than 6.
2 million times), he’s walking hand-in-hand with a boy dressed in a Spider-Man jacket. Joking that the child isn’t his son, he tells the camera, to the amusement of his sidekicks, that he has no children, at least as far as he’s aware. Beneath the video, the caption reads: “the young are with us”.
READ MORE David McWilliams: France is politically goosed if Macron’s big gamble on a snap election fails The dark side of the.
