The far-right candidate gathered his troops at the Parc des Expositions in the afternoon, behind his new slogan "Impossible is not French", an expression attributed to Napoleon, accompanied by an olive branch.

"It is one of the largest meeting rooms in recent years," insists spokesman Antoine Diers, "very happy" if his candidate brings together more than 10,000 people.

The director of events for Mr. Zemmour, Olivier Ubéda, claims to have identified 19,000 registrants.

More than 400 journalists are accredited.

The polemicist modeled his calendar on the LR congress, who chose their champion Valérie Pécresse on Saturday, with a more moderate profile than his rival Eric Ciotti.

Like Marine Le Pen, his competitor on the far right, Eric Zemmour invited the disappointed LR to join him, in an open letter in which he attests to them: "We are so close".

Stanislas Rigault, president of the Generation Z movement, in Paris, December 2, 2021 JOEL SAGET AFP / Archives

The former regional adviser RN Agnès Marion will attend the meeting on Sunday.

She "hopes" for a speech around "the great downgrading" and the "great replacement", this conspiracy theory claimed by Eric Zemmour of the replacement of European populations by non-European immigrants.

Silencing Zemmour

Initially planned at the Zénith, at La Villette, the meeting was finally relocated to Villepinte, about twenty kilometers away.

Eric Zemmour's team explains it by "popular enthusiasm" but also admits security reasons, while a demonstration is planned in Paris.

About fifty trade unions, parties and associations called for demonstrations from Barbès to la Villette to silence Eric Zemmour.

According to police sources, the demonstration and the meeting at the Parc des Expositions are considered "at risk".

The police are expecting a few thousand people in the capital and a hundred ultra-left activists in Villepinte, where they fear clashes.

Demonstrators protest against the arrival of Eric Zemmour in Marseille, November 26, 2021 Christophe SIMON AFP / Archives

The PS president of Seine-Saint-Denis Stéphane Troussel had launched a petition to cancel the meeting by the owners of the place, the Viparis group, by calling on his "diversity charter".

The approach scandalized the Zemmour camp.

It was also contested by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, for whom "democracy is also to listen to what you dislike".

The LFI candidate holds a meeting at La Défense in the early afternoon.

In Villepinte will be unveiled the name of the party, with paid membership, as well as a "scenography" for the entire campaign.

It will make it possible to measure the rallies, while the organization is criticized internally for its fragility and more radical activists have integrated the campaign, such as the former megretist and close to the identities Grégoire Tingaud who will be responsible for coordinating the regional referents.

The financier Charles Gave has withdrawn his support and the sovereignist Philippe de Villiers will not be present on Sunday.

Demonstration for all

On the other hand, several personalities from the Manif pour Tous, which brings together opponents of same-sex marriage, will come to Villepinte: the former conservative deputy Jean-Frédéric Poisson, who renounced his own candidacy in 2022 and will take care of legislative, as well as Christine Boutin, who before him chaired the small Christian Democratic Party (now "VIA the voice of the people"), and Laurence Trochu, president of the Conservative Movement, associated until now with LR.

The figure of the yellow vests Jacline Mouraud will also be there to support Eric Zemmour and "represent popular France".

General Bertrand de la Chesnais, former head of the list for the RN in Carpentras (Vaucluse), who is already working on defense issues, could be appointed campaign manager.

The mayor of Béziers Robert Ménard, support of Marine Le Pen and friend of Eric Zemmour, hopes for "proposals" after judging his candidacy announcement of "apocalyptic darkness", like the entire political class.

In addition to its tone, the candidate's video had been criticized for its amateurism with the use of images without having the rights.

He then appeared tense at 8 p.m. on TF1, before insulting the presenter behind the scenes.

Eric Zemmour "lets himself be overwhelmed" and in Villepinte "he seeks to make up for it", commented on FranceInfo political scientist Pascal Perrineau.

© 2021 AFP