France’s Eric Zemmour announces presidential candidacy

 

France’s Eric Zemmour announces presidential candidacy

Far-right TV pundit declares on social media that he’s running in April’s presidential election.

 

BY CLEA CAULCUTT

November 30, 2021 12:08 pm

https://www.politico.eu/article/frances-eric-zemmour-announces-presidential-candidacy/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0TRV6V_X4LBPCNNO6wHxw9ZvQqRA4vn8yMZgSRY4veu87uIJBdsdWhapo#Echobox=1638271396

 

PARIS — Eric Zemmour announced on social media Tuesday that he is running in the French presidential election in April.

 

Zemmour, who has been compared to Donald Trump due to his anti-establishment policies and ability to deliver pithy one-liners that go viral, is hoping to re-energize his stuttering campaign and draw a line under recent controversies.

 

Recently even his own supporters admitted he was struggling to reinvent himself as a serious presidential candidate.

 

After a rapid rise in the polls, Zemmour hit a series of hurdles as longtime allies deserted him, speaking events fell short of expectations and campaign funding appeared uncertain. POLITICO’s Poll of Polls suggests that Zemmour would get 14 percent of the vote in a presidential election, behind Emmanuel Macron on 24 percent and Marine Le Pen on 18 percent.

 

With those scores, Macron and Le Pen would qualify for the run-off vote.

 

The far-right TV pundit’s campaign hit a low point this weekend when he was photographed giving the finger to a member of the public during a visit to Marseille that had been marred by protests.

 

Zemmour is due to hold his first rally in Paris on Sunday in what his team hopes will be a show of strength, with several thousand expected to attend.

 

Zemmour repeatedly makes the case that France is being “submerged” by immigration and is in danger of “losing its identity” under the influence of Islam, which he says is “incompatible” with western values. Many accuse the journalist, who has twice been convicted of inciting hatred, of stoking divisions and encouraging discrimination against France’s Muslim population.

 

His scathing attacks on the political establishment and controversial proposals on immigration and French identity have grabbed the attention of the media and dominated debates ahead of the vote next year.

 

He is joining a crowded cast of candidates on the right, just as the conservative Les Républicains party prepares to elect its presidential candidate this weekend.