Presidential 2022: "Eric Zemmour bites on all right-wing electorates"

Europe 1 4:26 p.m., September 4, 2021

INTERVIEW

Eric Zemmour is not yet a candidate for the presidential election but it is just like.

The polemicist indeed seems to have launched his electoral campaign this Saturday with the creation of his site "Crossroads", where he will notably put online registrations for the conferences of his new book "France has not said its last word ", to be released September 16.

A way to promote his ideas, which attract more and more far-right voters but also right-wing.

According to Bernard Sananes, president of the Elabe polling institute, the candidacy of the polemicist, credited with 8% of voting intentions in the first round, could well reshuffle the cards of the electoral game of the whole of the right. 

"There is only one in five French people who do not know him"

"We realize that Eric Zemmour bites on all electorates, from the far right to the right," he explains on Europe 1. "He bites on the electorate of Marine Le Pen, Nicolas Dupont- Aignan and the right-wing candidate ". According to an Ipsos-Sopra Steria poll carried out for Le Parisien and France Info, Marine Le Pen, the candidate for the National Rally, would drop below the 20% threshold of voting intentions if Éric Zemmour's candidacy was confirmed. "He is credited with 8% of voting intentions, well above the 5% mark," said Bernard Sananes. "It is not negligible". How to explain this electoral potential? Columnist on CNEWS in the daily show "Face à l'Info", presented by Christine Kelly,Eric Zemmour has established himself as a key figure in the French media landscape. "There is only one in five French people who do not know him," said Bernard Sananes. "A lot of people thought he wasn't that well-known." 

A "divisive" personality

In addition to his notoriety, Eric Zemmour is a "divisive" personality, believes the president of Elabe.

And that's an asset.

The polemicist's shocking statements allow him to remain at the heart of the debate and in the minds of voters.

'He has a bad image rate which is the same as Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen ", adds Bernard Sananes." And one in five French people have a good opinion of him ".

The president of Elabe is however not certain that the popularity of Eric Zemmour is sufficient for the editorialist to impose himself in the face of these political tenors. “When you are a candidate, you are more polemicist, columnist, TV host,” he said on Europe 1. “We are entering a new playing field. It will no longer be looked at in the same way. Will it boost it or, on the contrary, slow down the dynamic that we are seeing today? "asks Bernard Sananes. Éric Zemmour is in any case only at the beginning of the path. He will indeed need to obtain 500 signatures of elected officials to be able to compete in the presidential election. A "complicated" deadline according to Bernard Sananes.But not enough to discourage the polemicist who is counting on the release of his book and his tour to meet the French to establish himself as a serious candidate.