Former television pundit Eric Zemmour, who a few days ago declared his candidacy for the French presidential election in April, held his first campaign rally on Sunday. The rally, which was to take place in a Paris concert hall, was moved to a bigger exhibition centre in a northern suburb of the capital.
The move was due to security reasons as more than 50 organisations, including far-left political parties, unions and anti-racist groups, organised a protest on Sunday against Zemmour, who in a video had expressed anti-migrant and anti-Islam views while announcing his candidacy. Police had feared possible clashes with Zemmour's far-right supporters and the leftists.
In the popular Paris neighbourhood of Barbes, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets, marching behind a banner reading Paris will silence the far-right. Zemmour's rally came a day after France's main conservative Republicans party picked Valerie Pecresse, the head of its Paris region and a former minister, as its presidential candidate.
It remains to be seen whether Zemmour’s extremist views will elevate him to the presidency. The journalist-turned-celebrity pundit’s tirades have often been viewed as inflammatory. There’s a sizeable number of sexual abuse allegations against him and he has, in the past, compared puberty-blocking treatment trans children opt for to Nazi medical experiments.
Educated in Sciences Po, Zemmour in his books has said that laissez-faire progressiveness, unchecked immigration and Islam have led France to decline since 1968. The writer, born in 1958, politically self-identifies as Gaullist and Bonapartist. Formerly a journalist with Le Figaro, a daily, Zemmour has appeared on several television shows. He was, in 2011, fined for incitement to racial discrimination and incitement of hate against Muslims in 2018. His most popular book has been The French Suicide, which in 2014 sold over 500,000 copies. The Guardian has described his rise since his announcement of candidacy as ‘meteoric’. Zemmour stands a good chance of making it to the second round.
“He makes me look reasonable,” controversial French politician Marine Le Pen is known to have said in a private conversation, Politico reported. “He is into the clash of civilizations, while I say yes, Islam is compatible with the Republic.”
When it comes to international relations, Zemmour has called for distancing France from the USA and establishing closer ties with Russia. Zemmour has also said that he would bring in 20-30 billion euros of savings to the French budget yearly after stopping all subsidies to foreigners. As far as the state’s role in business development is concerned, Zemmour advocates for administrative simplicity and says that the age of retirement should be raised to 64.
