French far-right leader cancels speech after Bannon gives ‘Nazi salute’
National Harbor, Maryland: A French far-right leader cancelled his appearance at a major conservative gathering near Washington after former Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon made an on-stage gesture which resembled a Nazi salute.
Jordan Bardella, the 29-year-old leader of National Rally, which is headed in parliament by Marine Le Pen, was due to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday (US Eastern Standard Time).
French media led by Agence France-Presse reported Bardella withdrew from the program because of Bannon’s “gesture alluding to Nazi ideology” at the end of his speech on Thursday evening, local time. Bardella was not in the room when the gesture was made, his statement said.
Bannon denied it was a Nazi salute, saying he had made the “wave” at the end of numerous prior speeches as a way of thanking the audience.
It follows tech billionaire Elon Musk drawing condemnation for a similar salute at a rally accompanying Trump’s inauguration in January. Musk made light of the incident at the time, saying, “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired”, while some of his supporters suggested it was actually a Roman salute.
At the CPAC conference on Friday, Bannon responded to Bardella’s withdrawal by calling the French politician “a boy not a man” who was not worthy of leading France.
Jordan Bardella, president of National Rally, and Marine Le Pen, who leads the party in parliament.Credit: Bloomberg
“He’s too big of a pussy to govern France.”
“He’s not a man, he’s a boy toy, if he’s going to have the mainstream media say something like that and he’s going to wet himself,” Bannon told this masthead.
“That’s the exact same wave I gave seven years ago when I went to France for National Front [now National Rally] and gave a motivational speech for about an hour.
Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington DC.Credit: YouTube/CPAC
“[Bardella] has been nothing but a spokesmodel since he took over, and if Le Pen thinks they’re going to have a shot to win and to beat Macron and the rest of this group of gangsters in France, he’s got another think coming.”
CPAC was contacted for comment.
The conference, billed as the largest conservative gathering in the world, heard from Vice President J. D. Vance on Thursday and is due to be attended by President Donald Trump on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).
A multitude of cabinet members, prominent Republicans and senior White House officials have also appeared, including Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Attorney-General Pam Bondi, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz.
Far-right and alternative media figures also figure heavily on the program, such as My Pillow founder and conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell, YouTuber Benny Johnson and political activist Jack Posobiec.
Bannon, an influential figure in Trump’s first term, spent four months in jail last year for defying a subpoena from a congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol.
Elon Musk received a chainsaw from Argentina’s President Javier Milei at the CPAC conference outside Washington DC.Credit: AP
In his podium-thumping speech, Bannon repeated calls for Trump to unconstitutionally run for a third term as president in 2028.
“We ain’t worried about 2028,” he said. “The future of America is MAGA, OK? And the future of MAGA is Donald J. Trump. We want Trump in ’28. That’s what they can’t stand. A man like Trump comes along only once or twice in a nation’s history.”
At the time of the gesture, Bannon was saying the only way the MAGA movement would be defeated was if it surrendered, and implored the audience to “fight, fight, fight”, as Trump did after his assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Musk also spoke at the conference, appearing on stage in dark sunglasses, “Dark MAGA” cap and gold bling, and brandishing a chainsaw gifted to him by Argentinian President Javier Milei.
The chainsaw was a reference to the blitzkrieg of cuts being made to government agencies by Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency razor gang, which has been scorned by Democrats, and is starting to concern some Republican Trump backers.
Musk claimed taxpayer money was being used to prop up left-wing media outlets and “anti-American” non-government organisations. “I’m not sure how much of the left is even real,” he said.
However, Musk’s claim that the government is funding media companies is based on money spent on news subscriptions, not donations or “funding”.
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