Bardella: ‘Macronism Is Just Another Name for Socialism’

Reflecto News | French Politics | 2027 Election

PARIS — Jordan Bardella, president of France’s National Rally party, delivered a sharp dismissal of President Emmanuel Macron’s political legacy on Wednesday, declaring that “Macronism is just another name for socialism.”

The remark, made during a campaign-style rally, is part of Bardella’s broader strategy to consolidate the right-wing vote ahead of the 2027 presidential election by erasing distinctions between Macron’s centrist coalition and the traditional left.

“Macronism is just another name for socialism.”
— Jordan Bardella, President of France’s National Rally

Bardella’s claim is a rhetorical weapon designed to blur the lines between Macron’s pro-business reforms and the policies of the Socialist Party, which governed France from 2012 to 2017 under François Hollande. While Macron was a member of the Socialist Party under Hollande, he launched his own centrist movement, En Marche! (now Renaissance), explicitly rejecting the traditional left-right divide. His policies have included tax cuts for corporations, deregulation of the labor market, and pension reform — measures that would typically be classified as center-right.

However, Bardella’s argument focuses on Macron’s spending record. Under Macron, France’s public debt has risen to nearly 110% of GDP; the government has expanded social welfare programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy crisis, and more recently the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Iran; and critics on both the left and right accuse the president of “big government” solutions rather than the small-government approach Bardella advocates.

By calling Macron a socialist, Bardella hopes to appeal to two distinct voter pools. On the traditional right, he is telling voters who backed François Fillon or Valérie Pécresse that Macron cannot be trusted with fiscal responsibility. On the far right, he is telling National Rally supporters that Macron is no different from the left-wing politicians they despise, reinforcing the idea that only a National Rally president will truly break with the status quo.

Bardella’s “Macronism = socialism” attack is also an attempt to define the 2027 election before it begins. If Bardella can convince voters that Macron’s centrist coalition is just “socialism in disguise,” he can disqualify the entire political establishment and present himself as the only alternative.

The Macron camp has dismissed the charge. A spokesperson for Renaissance told Le Figaro: “Jordan Bardella is trying to rewrite history. Emmanuel Macron cut taxes on businesses, reduced the number of civil servants, and forced through pension reform — actions no socialist would ever take. This is just demagoguery.”

Bardella’s attack also fits into the National Rally’s broader “de-demonization” strategy: rather than focus on the traditional battles of left versus right, Bardella frames the political divide as between “globalist elites” (including both Macron and the traditional left) and “patriots” (the National Rally). Labeling Macron a socialist is thus a way to lump him into the “elite” category.

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