French far-right leader Jordan Bardella on Friday canceled his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) after former Trump adviser Steve Bannon made a “gesture alluding to Nazi ideology.”
Bardella announced he was canceling his planned appearance at CPAC after Bannon appeared to make a Nazi salute the previous day. Bannon, who also used his speech to call for Trump to run for an unconstitutional third term, ended his address on Thursday afternoon by raising his arm and hand in the air, evoking a Nazi salute to many observers. The move was particularly notable after Trump adviser Elon Musk made a similar gesture at an Inauguration Day rally last month.
Despite disagreement in the U.S. about whether Musk and Bannon’s gestures amounted to Nazi salutes, it was enough for Bardella, the president of the far-right National Rally party, to pull out of the conference. “Yesterday, while I was not present in the room, one of the speakers out of provocation allowed himself a gesture alluding to Nazi ideology,” Bardella said in a statement Friday morning. “I therefore took the immediate decision to cancel my speech that had been scheduled this afternoon.”
His decision was especially notable given the National Rally’s roots: The party’s original founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, made numerous antisemitic comments, including denying the Holocaust, during his time leading the party. His daughter, Marine Le Pen — who has been the party’s candidate for president the past two elections and is expected to make a third bid in 2027 — has taken pains to disassociate with overt antisemitism.
Perceived references to Nazism face much greater backlash and disdain in Europe and several European countries, such as Germany, Austria, and Sweden, even have laws that ban making the Nazi salute or displaying Nazi symbols.
