FRENCH
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Spooked by immigration, Islam and ‘woke’ ideas:
Who are Éric Zemmour’s supporters?
Issued on:
29/03/2022 - 16:11
Modified:
29/03/2022 - 16:13
Waving the
French tricolour, supporters of far-right candidate Éric Zemmour gathered at
the Trocadéro in Paris on Sunday.
Text by:
Aude MAZOUE
Far-right polemicist Éric Zemmour has vowed to reverse
the immigration he blames for undermining France’s identity and core values if
he wins the country’s upcoming presidential election. FRANCE 24 spoke to his
supporters who gathered by the thousands in Paris on Sunday.
A writer
and talk show pundit known for his polarising attacks on Muslims and
immigrants, Zemmour emerged as the election’s dark horse early on in the
campaign, drawing from both the mainstream conservative camp and voters
disappointed by the far right’s traditional champion, Marine Le Pen. He has
since slipped down the table in voter surveys, polling at around 10-11 percent,
though his supporters still rank among the most raucous and motivated ahead of
the first round of the election on April 10.
On Sunday,
tens of thousands gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, facing the Eiffel Tower,
hoping to inject new momentum into his campaign. They included veteran
far-rightists, staunch Catholics, anti-LGBT activists and anti-vaxxers for whom
Zemmour is the best candidate to halt immigration, restore order and uphold
traditional French values.
Donning a
“Zemmour 2022” cap and a baptism medal wrapped around her neck, 18-year-old
Eugénie is getting ready to cast her very first ballot on April 10 – and she
could hardly be more thrilled about her choice of candidate. “I never thought
I’d support someone with such fervour,” she says. “I’m lucky to be casting my
first vote for a candidate I really like.” The philosophy student was just 9
years old when she first took part in a Paris rally, back in 2013, to oppose
marriage for same-sex couples. Nine years on, she’s back on the streets of the
French capital to “prove that Zemmour is not alone, contrary to what the media
claim”.
A
practising Catholic, Eugénie stresses the former pundit’s “love of France (...)
and the fact that he’s the only candidate to defend Christian values”. He’s
also “the only one to challenge the transhumanist movement [advocates of human-enhancement
technologies]”, she argues, praising Zemmour’s conservative stance on
“bioethical debates that undermine society”. While she acknowledges that
transhumanism is a niche concern, even for the far-right candidate, Eugénie
wholeheartedly subscribes to his core policy: his pledge to halt, and indeed
reverse, immigration.
“It’s good
to be humane and welcoming towards foreigners, but when there is a refusal to
assimilate we cannot surrender our culture,” says the young Zemmouriste, whose
champion has called for a ban on “non-French” first names. Eugénie is aware
that Zemmour has slipped behind his rivals in the race for the all-important
runoff. But she already has a Plan B in the other far-right candidate, Marine
Le Pen, who is polling in second place behind the incumbent, Emmanuel Macron.
“I live
nearby, it’s a nice day, I’ve come to gauge the atmosphere,” says 57-year-old
Marc, observing the raucous crowd gathered on the Trocadéro. An anti-vaxxer and
opponent of the Covid-19 health pass, he describes himself as the “family’s
ugly duckling”. “I didn’t get the Covid jab, unlike my mother and brother who
sold out to Macron,” he says. Born to a French mother and Yugoslav father, Marc
says he can identify with Zemmour, whose parents left their native Algeria when
it was still a French territory. In fact, he claims “lots of people of
immigrant background can relate to Zemmour”.
Like the
far-right candidate, Marc says he is most concerned about the so-called “great
replacement”, a conspiracy theory purporting that white Europeans are being
replaced by immigrants from Africa and the Middle East, with the complicity of
political elites. “It’s not just a theory, it’s everywhere,” says the
self-employed part-time worker in the building industry, pointing to the
“growing number of women wearing (Muslim) veils in Paris and its suburbs”.
Aside from immigration, Marc also agrees with Zemmour’s stances on education
and his opposition to “woke” ideas. “Finally, we have a candidate who
challenges all the anti-racist, feminist and LGBT talk we are constantly fed by
the media,” he says.
Portuguese-born
“but very well assimilated, like Zemmour wants”, 53-year-old Ana is perfectly
at ease with Zemmour’s hardline stance on immigration. “All of my children have
French names, it’s important for them to integrate,” says the mother of four, who
travelled from Bellême in Normandy to attend the rally in Paris. A longtime
Zemmour fan, Ana was first drawn to the far-right pundit by his televised
appearances back in the 1990s and has read every one of his books. She’s a
regular participant at his rallies, when she isn’t busy running the kitchen of
her restaurant.
A devout
Catholic, Ana voted for conservative candidate François Fillon in 2017. Five
years on, she sees Zemmour as the champion of Christian values. “He’s the only
one with a plan to save our civilisation from the ‘great replacement’. Our race
is in decline and we’re heading for catastrophe,” she says, describing Zemmour
as an opportunity for France. Ana is convinced the former pundit would have
averted the war in Ukraine had he been in power. “He would have known how to
negotiate with Putin because he is a man of peace,” she says of Zemmour, who
has frequently praised the Russian president, once saying he longed for a
“French Putin”.
Another
longtime supporter, Florent signed up for Zemmour’s fledgling party “Reconquête
!” at the first opportunity. “I like his ideas, his personality and his
background too. He’s the only one to cast a lucid eye on the situation,
particularly when it comes to immigration,” says the 40-year-old school
supervisor from the leafy Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud, for whom the “great
replacement” is well underway.
“When you
see the number of veiled women increasing in a wealthy town like Saint-Cloud,
where I live, it means immigration is everywhere,” he claims. “What will the
country look like in 20 years? We must act now.” Florent is also drawn to
Zemmour’s education platform, with its focus on discipline. “Every day I see
kids falling by the wayside. We must restore order to the system,” he says.
However, Florent is increasingly pessimistic about his candidate’s chances of
qualifying for the run-off. If he fails, he will vote for Le Pen, “without a
doubt” – as he has done in the past. “Everything must be done to get rid of
Macron,” he adds.
A one-time
Le Pen supporter, 42-year-old Séverine recently switched her allegiance to
Zemmour, angered by Le Pen’s jabs at the former pundit. “I didn’t like it when
Le Pen branded him ‘far right’,” she says. “And when she had a go at him for
having ‘Nazis’ in his party, it was really absurd, because she has the very
same problem.” An administrative worker in a suburb of Paris, Séverine says she
leans “neither right nor left” and is drawn to Zemmour’s earnest talk. “He’s
not a politician, he’s a man of the people, like a family friend,” she says of
the hardline polemicist, who has two convictions for hate speech and is
appealing a third.
While she
does not live in the countryside, Séverine approves of Zemmour’s promise to
hand struggling rural families a €10,000 cheque. She also backs him to halt
“the decline in France’s education system”. Holding up a banner that reads
“Women with Zemmour”, she dismisses the accusations of misogyny levelled at the
far-right candidate, who has repeatedly blasted feminist campaigns and attempts
to introduce gender parity in government. “Such accusations are totally
unfounded,” she claims. “I even get the impression there are more women than
men at his rallies.”
This
article was adapted from the original in French.
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