The leader of a far-right political party in France said he would not address as planned the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) after Steve Bannon, a close ally to President Trump, appeared to give a Nazi salute at the forum on Thursday.
“I had been invited … to make a speech on the links between the United States and France, as well as the recent electoral dynamic of patriot parties in Europe,” Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s National Rally, said in a statement, as reported by France 24.
“Yesterday, while I was not present in the room, one of the speakers out of provocation allowed himself a gesture alluding to Nazi ideology. I therefore took the immediate decision to cancel my speech that had been scheduled this afternoon,” Bardella added.
Bannon has said his gesture was “a wave,” and reacted to Bardella’s cancelation by saying the French politician is “unfit to lead France,” in a comment to the French outlet Le Point.
“He’s a little boy, not a man, and only men or women of strength can lead France,” he said.
Bardella, a member of the European Parliament, took over as leader of France’s National Rally in 2022, but Marine Le Pen remains its party leader in parliament and is expected to run for president in 2027.
Le Pen is working to rebrand and distance the party from its historical links to antisemitism, racism and France’s collaboration with the Nazi’s during World War II.
The National Rally secured third-place in parliamentary elections in July, increasing its presence in the National Assembly but falling short to challenge French President Emanuel Macron’s allies in the parliament.
The National Rally took the lead in the first round of parliamentary votes, but was besieged by scandal among its candidates, including a woman who appeared in a photo wearing a World War II-era Nazi officers cap.
Bannon is the second prominent Trump supporter to be accused of a Nazi salute since the president took office last month. Hours after Trump was sworn in, Elon Musk appeared to make the gesture at an inauguration day event in Washington.
“I never imagined we would see the day when what appears to be a Heil Hitler salute would be made behind the Presidential seal,” Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) wrote in a post on X at the time.
“This abhorrent gesture has no place in our society and belongs in the darkest chapters of human history,” Nadler continued. “I urge all of my colleagues to unite in condemning this hateful gesture for what it is: antisemitism.”
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