The second speaker in this session at the IAMCR 2025 conference in Singapore is Yuefeng Qu, whose interest is in the growth of far-right populism on Xitter. She is exploring this especially in the context of the French far-right party Rassemblement National. RN has now emerged as a major force in French politics, with typically nationalist and exclusionary views.
This might be understood as a kind of populism 2.0, which bypasses conventional media, draws on viral rhetoric, and positions political leaders as personal brands and political influencers. It also capitalises on mainstream media tendencies to favour game frames over issue frames, covering the political horse race rather than the substance of the policies preferred by competing political parties and groups.
There are various studies comparing the various European far-right parties and their leaders; however, few studies examine the strategies of the various political leaders within a single far-right party like RN. In France, RN Leader Marine Le Pen now also shares her stage with Jordan Bardella, and the two leaders’ communicative strategies are not always entirely aligned. This project explored this by analysing their posts on Xitter.
Le Pen was found to emphasise a pragmatic approach focussed on pragmatic issues; she highlighted simplistic binary oppositions between French and European or other foreign interests. Bardella favoured a more emotional and interactive tone, also engaging especially with youth-oriented formats (live video, memes). This splits their efforts across different demographics, especially along generational lines. This might also serve to temper the radical image associated with far-right movements.
