"Does (Eric Zemmour) have the ambition to be in the second round, which I do not believe, or does it actually serve as a stepping stone to allow Valérie Pécresse to be in the second? turn instead of Marine Le Pen? "asked the candidate of the National Rally on BFMTV and RMC.

"If Eric Zemmour is there to help Valérie Pécresse win, then he has to admit it. Valérie Pécresse is his majority shareholder," added Ms. Le Pen, who said Sunday to prefer "to debate with the boss ( Valérie Pécresse), rather than with underlings "like Eric Zemmour.

"There is a problem of sincerity behind this candidacy" of Eric Zemmour, according to the candidate RN, in reference to remarks made by his competitor on C8 on December 16, about the 500 sponsorships necessary for a presidential candidacy.

Eric Zemmour had estimated that "if the LRs do this tactical stupidity" to prevent their elected officials from sponsoring him, "Ms. Le Pen will be at 25% and Ms. Pécresse will not be in the second round".

Should LRs encourage sponsorship in its favor?

"If they (The Republicans) were tactically smart, that's what they would do," added the former columnist.

Since then, Marine Le Pen has accused the LR candidate of letting LR elected officials sponsor Eric Zemmour to divide the far right.

Eric Zemmour responded sharply to Ms. Le Pen Wednesday evening on BFM.

"Maybe Madame Le Pen is used to this kind of political gimmicks, me, it's not my thing," he said.

"I do not really have lessons to receive from Madame Le Pen. It is all the same because of her and her calamitous debate that we had five years of Emmanuel Macron. It was already in fact at because of her, because she had refused to call to vote for Nicolas Sarkozy, that we had François Hollande ", added the candidate Reconquest !.

"Marine Le Pen does not interest me much, it is a routine application. She was there the last time, she was there the penultimate time, she will be there the next time," he continued. .

"I have a moving thought for the voters of the National Rally. Are they ready to lose with Marine Le Pen in 2032? It's a bit like our Arlette Laguiller of the national right," he said launched, in parallel with the former spokesperson for Lutte Ouvrière on the far left, a six-time presidential candidate from 1974 to that of 2007, a record.

On the side of Valérie Pécresse, its communication director Geoffroy Didier affirmed Sunday that the LR mayors who would give their sponsorship to Eric Zemmour "would exclude themselves" from the party but that they remained "free of their choices" and that "no instructions are given" by LR.

© 2022 AFP