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
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.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário