Anti-Muslim and hard-line toward immigration
Eric Zemmour.. the far-right who wants to repeat the Trump experience in France
Zemmour shuffled the cards of French politics with his intention to run for president.
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Zemmour used his media position to spread his ideas among the French.
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The French media does not hide the hatred of its Muslim citizens.
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The election season began in France last week, as presidential candidates launched their campaigns and held public meetings and gatherings, but the person who grabbed the spotlight was not a candidate before or even a politician, but a right-wing writer and television star, similar to Donald Trump, before the presidency. Eric Zemmour became one of France's most prominent television celebrities, through his work for "C News", a channel similar to "Fox News", even after he was punished twice for inciting racial hatred, and this week he dominated media coverage in the beginning The unofficial election campaign for the presidential elections next April.
An opinion poll published last week showed that he is ahead of potential candidates, beating the declared candidates, such as the mayor of Paris, and while his chances of winning appear very slim, it may disrupt the long-awaited scenario of the confrontation between President Emmanuel Macron and the leader of the National Front party. Far-right, Marine Le Pen. In a lightning, well-coordinated campaign to blur the lines between media and politics, the 63-year-old, a best-selling author in France, released a new book, on Thursday, entitled "France Has Not Yet Said Its Last Word", with a cover showing him standing with French flag.
In a short phone interview, the controversial journalist said that the cover was modeled on Trump's book "America is Great Again" in 2015, which outlined his political agenda before winning the election the following year, and the book showed Trump at the forefront with the American flag, and said Zemmour said the cover wasn't the only way he drew inspiration from the former US president.
While he has paid no heed to old rumors of a possible candidacy, this month Zemmour sent stronger signals that he might follow Trump in the leap from television to politics.
“Obviously there are common points,” Zemmour said. “In other words, someone who is completely outside the party system, who has never had a political career, and moreover, he understood that the main interests of the working class are immigration and trade.”
Final Showdown
In the second round of the presidential elections in France, the two winners of the highest votes from the first round meet in a run-off. Macron has vigorously defended the traditional, more moderate right in a strategy to prepare for a final showdown with Le Pen, whom he defeated in 2017, but Zemmour's presence, with his allure on the French right-wing political spectrum, could upset the calculus.
“French politics has become completely unpredictable,” said Nicolas Leborg, a professor of political science who specializes in the right and the far right. A few points,” he said, referring to the Republicans, who represent the traditional right-wing party. The poll, released last week, showed that 10% of voters supported Zemmour in the first round of the elections, up from 7%, the previous week, and 5% in July. Zemmour is one of the few candidates to score a noticeable approval rating from French voters, outperforming figures from established parties, including Socialist Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
According to an opinion poll published on Monday, Zemmour is one of the few candidates who has received support from both the French traditional right and the far right, a point that was confirmed by the media in an interview, saying that the right-wing National Front "frustrates the French bourgeoisie", while the Republicans "are not They only have a very old audience, they don't connect with the young or the working class.” The survey also showed that Zemmour has popularity among working-class men and young voters.
sexy notes
François de Voyeur, founder of BlackBook on YouTube, who interviewed the journalist and other right-wing figures, said that Zemmour gives the impression that he "never hides what he thinks, even if it means making controversial remarks," adding: "I think it has an effect on creating trust."
Nevertheless, the media's views are seen by many as hard-line, especially those related to immigration, the place of Islam in France and its national identity, but his entry into the competition will inject some of the most contentious and contentious issues into an increasingly polarized society.
As a longtime journalist for the conservative daily Le Figaro, Zemmour has become a best-known author in the past decade, with books describing the state of France in decline, under the threat of what he claimed is "an Islam that does not share France's basic values." His fame and influence rose to another level after he became The C News star in 2019, explaining his ideas to hundreds of thousands of viewers every evening at prime time.
He has portrayed himself as someone telling the truth in the news media, which is dominated by left-leaning journalists, and has criticized African Muslim immigration, citing the supposed existential threat of "Great Replacement," a term that even the National Front leader avoids, and that focuses on the white population. and the more established Christians in France, who will be replaced by Muslim immigrants from the continent.
Over the weekend, Zemmour said that if he became president he would ban "non-French" names, because they created obstacles to the integration process, which was preventing immigrants from becoming "true French."
hate speech
These comments have sometimes drawn the attention of the French authorities, and in May the state broadcasting regulator imposed a €200,000 fine on C News for speech inciting racial hatred. Accompanied by their families from France, he described them as "thieves", "murderers" and "rapists".
In addition, some presidential candidates from the Republican Party criticized Zammour's proposal, and Xavier Bertrand, a leader of a region in northern France, said that the media was "calling for great discrimination," and the leader of the party in the Paris region, Valerie Pecres, said that the media "did not present real proposals.
Leborg, a professor of political science, said that Zemmour's "ethnic nationalism" is rooted in the ideology of the National Front, in the 1990s, which predated the National Front founded by Mrs. Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, continuing: "More than anyone else, Zemmour succeeded over the years in imposing his vision on politicians on the traditional right.”
Supporters say that is why Zemmour is the only candidate who can appeal to the traditional and far-right. "Eric Zemmour opened the eyes of a certain number," said Antoine Dires, a spokesman for Friends of Eric Zemmour, a group that raises funds for a possible presidential bid. of the people, including members of my political family.” Dires is also a member of the Republican Party, and an official in the city council of Plessis-Robinson, in the southern suburbs of Paris.
On his programme, in September 2020, Zemmour said that unaccompanied foreign minors should be expelled from France, describing them as "thieves", "murderers" and "rapists".
10% of voters support Eric Zemmour in the first round of the election, according to a poll released last week.
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