Europe 1 with AFP 4:55 p.m., February 17, 2022

The candidate given in the neck-to-neck polls with Valérie Pécresse represents "the little brown plague in our country", declared Fabien Roussel, the PCF candidate for the presidential election.

Eric Zemmour "represents a threat" and "I want to explain it most sincerely to our voters", he added.

PCF presidential candidate Fabien Roussel on Thursday called far-right candidate Eric Zemmour's program a "little brown plague" and urged voters "not to be mistaken in anger".

Eric Zemmour, "a threat"

Asked on Cnews about the remarks of the environmental candidate Yannick Jadot, who estimated on Sunday that Eric Zemmour "does the service Jew for anti-Semites" and "the far right which was only waiting for such a representative to free speech" , Fabien Roussel argued that he "will never speak like that".

"Eric Zemmour represents the little brown plague in our country, but I never qualify people according to their origins," he explained, saying "prefer to attack his project, his vision he has of France, which recalls that of collaboration, of Vichy and Pétain".

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This term "brown plague", "it's a story, it's fascism, it's Pétain, it's the black shirts, and I know that Eric Zemmour refers to it and it's serious and dangerous", developed Mr. Roussel.

"He dares to divide our fellow citizens"

Calling him a "little brown plague", "I'm not talking about his size - that wouldn't be good - I'm talking about his program, and it's a little brown plague his program", he then insisted on BFMTV: "he rehabilitates Pétain, the one who set up the Jewish code during the War and who organized the roundup of the Vél d'Hiv', (...), he dares to divide our fellow citizens according to their first name and stigmatize, by doing this, our Muslim fellow citizens, who have built France in the same way as many of our French, Italian, Spanish fellow citizens, whatever their religion".

Zemmour neck and neck with Pécresse

Eric Zemmour "represents a threat" and "I want to explain it most sincerely to our voters", added Fabien Roussel, urging them "not to be mistaken in anger".

"They are angry and I understand their anger, but it will not bring hope by voting for the extreme right, for the Zemmour and the Le Pen", he assured.

The RN candidate Marine Le Pen is given the second round of the presidential election against Emmanuel Macron by the polls which credit her with some 17% of the voting intentions, ahead of Eric Zemmour, given at 14% and neck and neck with candidate LR Valérie Pécresse.