{"id":1364,"date":"2026-05-15T22:42:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T19:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/?p=1364"},"modified":"2026-05-20T13:14:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:14:41","slug":"mbappe-warns-of-possible-le-pen-victory-bardella-responds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/mbappe-warns-of-possible-le-pen-victory-bardella-responds\/","title":{"rendered":"Mbapp\u00e9 Warns of Possible Le Pen Victory \u2013 Bardella Responds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

French football star Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 publicly clashed with the president of the National Rally (RN), Jordan Bardella, following his renewed criticism of the right-wing party in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 27-year-old footballer warned of the \u201cconsequences\u201d France would face if the RN won the 2027 presidential election, emphasizing that his fame and wealth do not allow him to remain silent about politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are citizens; we can\u2019t just sit back and say everything will be fine and go play,\u201d Mbapp\u00e9 said in his interview, which was published on May 12, 2026, about a month before the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026. \u201cWe\u2019re really trying to fight the idea that a footballer should keep quiet and just play.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Real Madrid forward, who comes from a working-class neighborhood in Paris, is well aware of the \u201cconsequences it can have\u201d for France if \u201cpeople like them come to power,\u201d according to statements cited by The Guardian.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Bardella, 30, responded via the social media platform X with a sarcastic remark about Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s career. \u201cAnd I know what happens when Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 leaves PSG: the team wins the Champions League!\u201d<\/em> he wrote, referring to Paris Saint-Germain\u2019s historic title win in 2025 after Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s departure to Madrid.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In other comments reported by French media, Bardella attacked the footballer\u2019s wealth, saying it is \u201cshameful to see rich athletes giving lessons to people who can no longer make ends meet, who don\u2019t feel safe.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Marine Le Pen<\/strong>, the long-time leader of the RN, who has been barred from running for office for five years following her conviction in March 2025 for a false jobs scandal, also downplayed Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s influence in a separate interview on RTL radio. \u201cHonestly, I believe fans are free enough to know who to vote for without being influenced by Mbapp\u00e9,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> she said.<\/p>\n

RN spokesperson and member of parliament Julien Odoul<\/strong> stated that, as captain of the national team, Mbapp\u00e9 has a duty to represent the entire country\u2014including the millions who vote for the RN\u2014rather than act as a partisan activist.<\/p>\n

This confrontation comes as Bardella and the RN continue to lead in national polls ahead of the 2027 elections against Rapha\u00ebl Glucksmann<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A March 2026 poll by Toluna\u2013Harris Interactive showed the RN president polling around 35-36% in first-round scenarios, while Glucksmann followed with about 14%.<\/p>\n

Le Pen, who is appealing her conviction, has stated that Bardella will be the RN candidate if her ban remains in effect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

French football star Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 sparked a public feud with far-right RN leader Jordan Bardella, warning of risks if the party wins France\u2019s 2027 election amid growing political tensions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":1365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[55,1252,1250,1060,1251],"nfg_topic":[134],"class_list":["post-1364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-france","tag-france-presidential-election-2027","tag-kilian-mbappe","tag-marin-lepen","tag-renaud-camus","nfg_topic-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1364"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1634,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364\/revisions\/1634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1364"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=1364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}