France’s far right goes quiet as Paris Olympics show what real patriotism is all about

A political faction that thrives on anger, hate, and division was unable to revel in a successful Olympics built on shared joy

Team France interact with the crowd during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The tricolor flag in which the Le Pens of this world drape themselves was everyone’s again, triumphantly so, and so was the Marseillaise, which hadn’t been sung with such regularity or such fervour since 1944. The true patriotes had won. Photo: David Davies/PA

Something unusual happened to the French far right during these Olympic Games: it went silent. 

Jordan Bardella, the poster boy of the National Rally (RN) who shared his life between public rallies and TV studios before the Olympic torch rose and lit up the Paris night two weeks ago, has all but vanished.